Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Defense Ministry and other relevant bodies to formulate recommendations to eliminate the weapons smuggling across the Egypt-Israel border, and present the recommendations to him within two months.
The instruction came ahead of an emergency discussion held Wednesday by the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which focused on the increase in drones crossing from Egypt into Israel carrying weapons and military equipment.
Arutz Sheva – Israel National News has been informed that during the closed part of the meeting, security sources told the Committee that over the past two weeks, 50% of all drones have been shot down, at a rate of approximately 90 per week.
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.”