Zamir instructs IDF to focus efforts on countering drone threat on Egyptian border

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has instructed the military to focus efforts and resources on countering the threat of drones on the Egyptian border.

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

The military says Zamir held a meeting today on the Egyptian border drone threat with senior IDF officers, along with Shin Bet and police representatives.

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

The IDF says that in the meeting, 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 the meeting include: 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 which will be tasked with handling the smuggling attempts, including under difficult terrain and nighttime conditions.