Israel Katz, IDF chief launch hard-hitting campaign to block drones smuggling weapons from Egypt

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz, both at separate meetings over the past two days, announced orders to “declare war” on any attempts by Hamas or other adversaries to attack Israel with drones or to use them to smuggle weapons across the Egypt-Israel border for criminal purposes.

For years, Israel has not experienced a serious military ground forces security threat on the Egyptian border, but even before the Israel-Hamas War, there was a huge problem with smuggling weapons and drugs across it. That problem grew more complex as many hostile parties and criminal enterprises saw that Israeli air defenses struggled to intercept drones; even if they intercepted some, enough still got through to make drone smuggling economically viable.

At the meeting led by Zamir, he instructed the military to undertake additional efforts and use resources in order to combat the Egyptian border drone issue. Zamir’s meeting focused on the IDF’s Operations Directorate and was part of a multi-organizational process aimed at constructing a comprehensive plan for tackling the growing threat. The IDF chief stated that the drone threat is “not merely a criminal threat but a security threat with terror potential,” emphasizing the military’s commitment to address the issue more robustly, while developing new operational capabilities.” (Read More)