A still image taken from Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) video footage shows what they say is a small unidentified aircraft shot down in a mid-air interception after it crossed into southern Israel October 6, 2012. 
 
 DUBAI (Reuters) - The incursion by an unmanned aircraft into Israeli airspace at the weekend exposed the weakness of Israeli air defenses, an Iranian military official was quoted as saying on Monday. 
 
 The Israeli air force shot down a drone on Saturday after it crossed into southern Israel, the military said, but it remained unclear where the aircraft had come from. 
 
 Jamaluddin Aberoumand, deputy coordinator for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the incident indicated that Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defense system "does not work and lacks the necessary capacity", Fars news agency reported. 
 
 The Iron Dome system, jointly funded with the United States, is designed to shoot down short-range guerrilla rockets, not slow-flying aircraft. It intercepted more than 80 percent of the targets it engaged in March when nearly 300 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel, the Pentagon said at the time. 
 
 The drone was first spotted above the Mediterranean near the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to the west of Israel, said military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich. An Israeli warplane shot it down above a forest near the occupied West Bank. 
 
 Israeli parliament member Miri Regev, a former chief spokesman of the military, wrote on Twitter it was an "Iranian drone launched by Hezbollah", referring to the Lebanese Shi'ite group that fought a war with Israel in 2006. 
 
 Israeli defense officials have not confirmed this. 
 
 Aberoumand attributed claims the drone was made by Iran to a "psychological operation" by Israel, but did not confirm or deny them. "The Zionist regime (Israel) has many enemies," he added. 
 
 On at least one occasion, Iranian-backed Hezbollah has sent a drone into Israeli airspace. And in 2010, an Israeli warplane shot down an apparently unmanned balloon in the Negev near the country's Dimona nuclear reactor. 
 
 The Israeli military released a 10-second video clip of what it said was Saturday's mid-air interception, showing a small aircraft just before a missile from a fighter jet destroys it. 
 
 Israel has threatened to bomb Iran's nuclear sites if diplomatic efforts fail to stop the nuclear work it believes is aimed at getting weapons capability, a charge Tehran denies. 
 
 Iran has responded with threats to attack U.S. military bases in the region and retaliate against Israel if attacked. 
 
 (Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Alistair Lyon) ||||| Media caption The BBC's Yolande Knell reports from the Gaza classrooms which have been turned into bedrooms 
 
 Israeli air strikes on Gaza and rocket fire on Israel have continued, on the seventh day of Israel's operation against Palestinian militants. 
 
 Palestinian officials say at least 175 people in Gaza have been killed since the offensive began last Tuesday. 
 
 Israel says nearly 1,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza in that time. It said it shot down a Palestinian drone near Ashdod on Monday morning. 
 
 Thousands of people have fled homes in northern Gaza after an Israeli warning. 
 
 Israel has massed thousands of troops on the border, amid speculation of a possible a ground invasion. 
 
 Media caption An interview being given by the Israeli prime minister was interrupted by an air raid warning system on Sunday 
 
 The current wave of violence followed the killing of three Israeli teenagers in June and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem. 
 
 On Monday Israeli officials said three arrested Israeli Jews had now confessed to the murder of the Palestinian, Mohammed Abu Khdair. 
 
 A court gagging order has been eased but the names of the three, including two minors, have not been released. They have been remanded in custody. 
 
 In the latest developments: 
 
 The UN says 17,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in its facilities and that 47 of the buildings have been damaged by air raids 
 
 Rockets were fired from both Lebanon and Syria into northern Israel, drawing Israel artillery in response 
 
 A rocket fired from Gaza hit electricity infrastructure in Israel that supplied power to Gaza, cutting power to about 70,000 people, the Israeli military said 
 
 UK Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed 27 British nationals were evacuated from Gaza on Sunday night 
 
 Arab foreign ministers were due to meet in Cairo on Monday to discuss the crisis. 
 
 Egyptian state media reported that US Secretary of State John Kerry would be in Cairo on Tuesday to try to help broker a truce, but the US has not confirmed this. 
 
 Hamas drones 
 
 The UN has estimated that 77% of the people killed in Gaza have been civilians. However Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt-Col Peter Lerner disputed the figures, saying they were based on Hamas sources and were not objective. 
 
 Media caption The Gaza Strip's troubled history - in 80 seconds 
 
 Col Lerner told the BBC that Israel had aborted certain attacks for fear of killing civilians. 
 
 Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants and "terror sites", including the homes of senior operatives. It says it has struck some 1,320 such sites. 
 
 "We do not wish to harm civilians in Gaza, but these civilians must know that remaining in close proximity to Hamas terrorists and infrastructures is extremely unsafe," the IDF said. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Residential buildings in Gaza are among sites which have been hit. Israel says it is targeting weapons stores and senior militants. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Meanwhile Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets into Israel 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Thousands of Palestinians decided to leave their homes after an Israeli warning of attacks 
 
 Image copyright IDF Image caption Israeli homes have also been damaged by rockets fired from Gaza ( Image from the IDF) 
 
 The drone shot down over Ashdod on Monday was brought down by a Patriot missile, Israel said. 
 
 The armed wing of Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades, issued a statement saying it had three types of drone - one for intelligence-gathering and two for military missions - and that it had lost one of them on Monday. 
 
 At least four Israelis have been seriously injured since the violence flared, but none have been killed. The latest serious injury was of a girl in Lakiya on Monday, the IDF reported. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption In Israel, air raid sirens and rocket attacks have reached from north to south 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption As the fighting continues, the number of Palestinians killed has been rising, including at least 17 members of this boy's family 
 
 A Palestinian health ministry spokesman has said 1,260 people have been injured in Gaza in addition to those killed. 
 
 Some 800 Palestinians holding dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing. 
 
 However, Gaza resident Sawla el Tibi told the BBC it was too dangerous to leave her home. "[There is] no safety at all to walk on the street... all of Gaza Strip is burning right now," she said. 
 
 The Palestinian Authority's envoy to the EU, Leila Shahid, accused Israel of "state terrorism". 
 
 She said: "This is the third time the Israeli army has launched a unilateral war against the population of Gaza. [It] pretends that it is only bombarding sites where rockets are launched from Gaza, and ultimately the ones who pay the bill are women, families and children." 
 
 But Israel's Economy Minister Naftali Bennett told the BBC that Hamas was responsible for "every single death in the Gaza Strip". 
 
 "When you put a family as a human shield defending missile launchers, when you hide missiles and weapons within hospitals, you are responsible for killing your own civilians," he said. 
 
 The UN Security Council has called for a ceasefire and renewed peace talks. 
 
 Israel's Iron Dome missile shield 
 
 Image copyright (C) British Broadcasting Corporation
– Israel launched a round of airstrikes on Gaza today, wounding two militants and eight bystanders, including some children. Israel says the attack was retaliation for a round of Palestinian rockets fired yesterday, which Palestinians say were in response to another Israeli airstrike earlier in the day, Reuters reports. More than 470 rockets have been fired from Gaza since June, but this was the first time Hamas acknowledged responsibility. As usual the rockets failed to harm anyone, though one did kill some goats at a petting zoo. The incident comes in the wake of a drone flight into Israeli airspace this weekend, which some have speculated came from Iran. An Iranian military official today boasted that the incident proved that Israel is vulnerable, and that its anti-missile defense system "does not work and lacks the necessary capacity." But he denied that the drone was made by Iran, saying such accusations represented a "psychological operation" on Israel's part. "The Zionist regime has many enemies," he said. Iran, meanwhile, is blaming Israel for a hack attack on its oil rigs.