Israel denies carrying out drone strike which killed two Gazans

Israel has denied being responsible for carrying out a drone strike which killed two Palestinians – and has instead accused Hamas of misleading Gazans about their deaths.

Hitting a group of men near a cemetery, in the northern Gaza Strip, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and its armed wing, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, released a statement on Sunday morning saying the two men “were martyred at dawn in the course of their duty to fight.”

However, denying the report and accusing Hamas of lying to Palestinians, Major Avichay Adraee, the head of the Arabic media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, posted a tweet in Arabic, where he said: “Many testimonies from the Gaza Strip cast doubt on the credibility of the Hamas Health Ministry’s announcement of the death of the two terrorist operatives at midnight.

“What do you have to hide Hamas? Time and again, Hamas tells you lies and half truths. Instead of telling the truth and telling you what really happened in the cemetery in Jabalya, they prefer to automatically blame Israel. Let’s challenge the Hamas Health Ministry to find out the real reason for the explosion.”

Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and senior IDF officials met to discuss the recent violent developments in the Gaza Strip.

A statement from the Ministry of Defense read: “The Defense Minister emphasised the readiness of IDF forces along the Gaza border and the need to be prepared for each scenario, in accordance with the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the conduct of Hamas.”