An Israeli airstrike killed three in Gaza on Tuesday near an area where an unmanned Israeli surveillance aircraft crashed earlier in the day, a Gaza official said.
The Israeli military said the Skylark drone experienced a technical malfunction and it was investigating what caused it to go down.
Hamas said it recovered the aircraft in southern Gaza and handed it over to security forces. No further details were immediately available.
Israel uses drones to gather intelligence on Gaza, a territory governed by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, and where several other armed groups also operate.
The Israeli army would not say whether the drone’s fall into Hamas’ hands could provide secrets or technology to the group.
The Skylark, however, is known to have safeguards to prevent disclosure of information to unauthorized personnel.
Shortly after the drone crashed, the Islamic Jihad movement said an Israeli airstrike struck the area, killing three members belonging to the group.
