Hamas military wing claim capture of Israeli drone

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, has claimed to have captured an Israeli drone aircraft.

"Security checks were conducted, and the systems and technologies installed in the drone were examined, and then the unit rebuilt it and put the drone to use in the service of the Qassam Brigades," the group said.

A video reconstructing the incident issued by al-Qassam has gone viral on social media, and was widely re-published through regional and international media outlets.

The news was spread on Twitter using the trending hashtag qassam_creative_youths.

Qassam heralded its adaptation of the drone as a "technical achievement", dedicated to young people in Palestine.

The drone is believed to be a small SKYLARK1 model reportedly used to monitor movements on the ground in Gaza.

Hamas have also created their own spy drones, which were paraded during a Qassam rally in December last year.