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IDF downs drone carrying 13 rifles, ammo near Egypt border

The drone and weapons were handed over to security forces for examination.

Assault rifles that were seized after a drone was shot down by the Israel Defense Forces near the Egyptian border, Jan. 29, 2025. Credit: IDF.
Assault rifles that were seized after a drone was shot down by the Israel Defense Forces near the Egyptian border, Jan. 29, 2025. Credit: IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday downed an unmanned aerial vehicle carrying 13 rifles with ammunition that had crossed into Israeli territory from Egypt, according to the military.

Soldiers of the IDF’s Paran Brigade shot down the drone, which was then handed over to security forces for inspection, the IDF stated.

On Nov. 27, the IDF shot down another drone carrying weapons and ammo and crossed from Egyptian territory into the western Negev.

The UAV “was shot down by the forces of the Caracal Battalion, who arrived at the scene and discovered four rifles, five cartridges and hundreds of bullets on the drone,” the military stated at the time.

On Oct. 30, four rifles and a handgun were found after Paran Brigade soldiers downed yet another drone that had crossed the border from Egypt. The previous week, eight handguns, along with magazines, were discovered at a UAV crash site.

The civilian security chief of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom near the Gaza Strip told Channel 14 last year that the IDF had blocked more than 30 attempts to smuggle weapons via unmanned aerial vehicles.

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