Hamas drone. Photo: Janes.

The Israeli army said it had boosted its alert status around Gaza and was tracking an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Hamas launched over the coastal enclave to celebrate the terror group’s 27^th anniversary on Sunday, Israel Radio reported.

IDF officials were concerned that the motorized drone, launched during a military parade in Gaza City, could carry out surveillance or attack missions against Israeli targets.

In this case, the vehicle did not enter Israeli airspace.

On July 14^th, during the summer’s Operation Protective Edge, the IDF said it had downed a similar UAV launched by the group.

The group’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades held a large military parade to commemorate the milestone, during which it displayed rockets and other military gear.

The Iran-backed and funded group also fired a test rocket out to sea, in the fifth such incident in recent weeks, and one of numerous tests since the army’s 50-day incursion, to quell such rocket fire into Israel.

“The Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance have grown highly powerful in this field (missile production) now,” a senior Iranian official said on Nov. 12^th.

Watch a brief video clip of the drone flying over Gaza:

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