Earlier today (Wednesday), a drone was identified crossing from Israeli territory into southern Gaza, and was monitored by the IDF during its flight. The Air Force struck the drone in southern Gaza, along with two suspects who were collecting it. According to Palestinian reports, one person was killed and one wounded in the attack.
Recently, several attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip using drones have been identified. The IDF will not allow any terrorist activity and will continue to act as necessary to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens.
Yesterday, a special debate was held in the Knesset on the threat of smuggling drugs and weapons into Israel using drones. MK Tzvika Foghel criticized the reliance on the IDF: "If you rely on the IDF, there will be no solution. A soldier doesn't know how to stop a smuggler, because he doesn't have policing authority. There is a regulated trade of weapons for drugs between Egypt and Jordan, while Israel is in the middle."
The commander of the Negev Border Intelligence Unit, noted that there is an increase in counterterrorism efforts by Jordan, but warned: "We are catching only one or two smuggling attempts a week, which are carried out mainly by drones. We assume that large quantities, many times more than what was caught, were not caught."
He added that "a drone has the capacity of carrying up to seventy kilograms. In terms of technological means, the police do not have the ability to fight against the drones. The enemy is one step ahead of us and we need to know how to close this gap. With twenty fighters on a 500-kilometer border, we can't talk about effective combat. On the southern borders, there are close to fifty drone transfers every week."
Lt. Col. Shimon Orkabi, commander of Battalion “601” of the Combat Engineering Corps, noted that most smuggling takes place in the Negev region: "Drugs are smuggled from Egypt to Israel, and in return, from Israel they export money and weapons to Jordan. The smuggling is carried out by drones far from the border, which challenges detection and seizure. The IDF is setting up aerial blockades, but we are not able to maintain all the borders."