Katz orders IDF to declare Egyptian border closed military zone over drone smugglings

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he was “declaring war” on weapon smuggling via drones over the Egyptian border, instructing the military to declare a closed military zone in the area and the Shin Bet to define such attempts as terrorism.

In the past year, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egyptian border using drones, the latest on Tuesday.

Katz on Wednesday night held an “emergency meeting” on the drone threat with IDF, police, Shin Bet, and Defense Ministry officials, his office said.

During the meeting, Katz “instructed the IDF to turn the area adjacent to the border into a closed military zone and to adjust the rules of engagement in order to strike any unauthorized party that penetrates into the prohibited area, in order to hit the operators and smugglers of the drones,” according to his office.

As of Thursday morning, the IDF has yet to announce any new closed military zones along Israel’s 200-kilometer-long border with Egypt, or any changes to its rules of engagement in the area.

Katz’s office also said that the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development and the Israeli Air Force would develop new “technological solutions” to counter the drone threat, and the National Security Council would assist with changing licensing requirements and legislative amendments regarding the use, purchase, and possession of drones.

The defense minister also spoke with Shin Bet chief David Zini on the matter, and it was agreed that the security agency would “define the issue of weapon smuggling threats via drones on the Israel–Egypt border as a terrorist threat,” which would enable security bodies to use “appropriate tools to combat the threat,” Katz’s office said.

“I have convened you here to declare war on drone smuggling on the Israel–Egypt border… the current situation is dangerous to the country’s security and cannot continue,” Katz was quoted as saying by his office.

He said that “deterrence must be created and it must be made clear to those engaged in smuggling that the rules of the game are changing, and they will pay a very heavy price if they do not cease.”

In a separate meeting with military, police and Shin Bet officials on Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed the military to focus efforts and resources on countering the threat of drones on the Egyptian border.

The meeting, led by the IDF’s Operations Directorate, was part of a “multi-organizational thought process aimed at formulating a comprehensive outlook for dealing with the growing threat,” the military said.

In the meeting, according to the IDF, Zamir said that “in his view, the drone threat is not merely a criminal threat but a security threat with terror potential, and emphasized the IDF’s and the defense establishment’s commitment to deepen the operational response while developing new operational capabilities.”

Some of the decisions made during Zamir’s meeting included: establishing a dedicated IDF, police, and Shin Bet task force to counter the drone threat; allocating resources toward long-term force build-up, including the development of new defense technologies; intensifying intelligence-gathering efforts, alongside expanded technological efforts for drone interception, disruption, and detection; and the formation of a new combat unit that will be tasked with handling the smuggling attempts, including under difficult terrain and nighttime conditions.

According to military officials, smugglers on the Israeli side of the border usually arrive at locations one to five kilometers (half a mile to three miles) from the fence, then fly drones over the border to Egypt and land them one to three kilometers from the fence. There, smugglers on the Egyptian side load the drones with contraband, often firearms, and the smugglers on the Israeli side pilot the drones back to them.

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To prevent drones from being flown over the border, troops are allowed to open fire on them in an attempt to knock them out of the sky. Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces has deployed electronic warfare capabilities that can jam or take control of the drones and bring them down.

The IDF has reported foiling dozens of smuggling attempts using drones on the Egyptian border in the past year. It remains unclear how many the military is failing to thwart.