An emergency session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee was held Wednesday, focusing on the growing phenomenon of drones being used to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Israeli territory.
The discussion was initiated by MK Tzvi Succot, chairman of the Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs.
The session was convened following MK Succot's request to committee chairman MK Boaz Bismuth, amid a dramatic increase in recent months in the number of smuggling incidents involving hundreds of drones carrying weapons and military equipment from Egypt into Israel.
At the start of the meeting, Succot warned, “The weapons smuggled from the Egyptian border are intended to seize IDF bases in the south. We are witnessing a grave phenomenon that is threatening Israel from within. The enemy is arming itself freely from within the territory of the State of Israel. The quantity of weapons entering this way is being used by terror organizations which are already planning the next October 7. It is inconceivable that the State of Israel should allow such a reality on its borders.”
He added that based on information from security sources and visits to the area, the defense establishment has not formulated an adequate systemic response. He called for the formation of an inter-agency task force involving the Shin Bet, Mossad, IDF, and Israel Police to develop a national plan to counter the threat.
“If in the past, we spoke about tunnels underground, today we’re dealing with tunnels in the air,” he said. “These drones cross the border every night, bringing with them weapons meant to harm us. We cannot take this lightly. This is an existential security threat that requires an immediate national response.”
MK Yuli Edelstein said, “This issue is evolving from a security concern to a strategic event. Hamas is currently focused on rebuilding, and this is one of the routes it will use to restore its capabilities. We must see what we can do, before it is too late.”
MK Amit Halevi noted, “We held a discussion on this a year ago, and to this day, we haven’t received answers on what is being done about the threat. There are still no answers. We are talking about a violation of Israeli sovereignty.”
MK Limor Son Har-Melech added, “This is a development creating real threat scenarios. I am very concerned, and even more concerned that we are failing to see the threat for what it is.”