Members of an emergency standby squad shot down an unmanned aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon using small arms in the Western Galilee on Saturday, the Israel Police stated.
The actions by the standby squad, which happened during a drone intrusion alert in the area, prevented a serious hit, with the police revealing that the drone was loaded with an explosive payload and cameras.
The incident occurred on Saturday at approximately 6 a.m., at the same time another drone struck the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Members of the squad identified two drones passing over their town and opened fire against them.
"We noticed a UAV flying right above our heads," recalled Lt. Col. Yossi Padlon, commander of the Nahariya station's volunteer jeep unit and a soldier in the settlement's standby squad.
"We used small arms and fired in its direction. We missed the first vehicle, but a few seconds later, another one passed over us. We fired accurately and managed to shoot it down near the town's entry," he added.
Cameras, explosives, and a tragedy prevented
Upon arrival at the scene, police forces found cameras on the UAV alongside a load of explosives that was ready to be activated.
The police emphasize that the quick response of the emergency squad members prevented the vehicle from completing its mission or exploding in a residential area.
The police worked in the area for an extended period to neutralize the explosives and remove the threat from the scene, while collecting technical evidence from the vehicle.
The UAV and the equipment it was carrying were transferred to security officials for further investigation and analysis of the vehicle's collection and attack capabilities, the authorities informed.