Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF on Thursday to declare the area adjacent to the Israel–Egypt border a closed military zone and to change rules of engagement to confront a surge in drone-enabled weapons smuggling, his office said.
The order followed an emergency meeting Wednesday on the threat, and came after Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed creation of a special unit to deal with smuggling by drones from Egypt, the statement said.
Katz said the rules of engagement “will be changed accordingly” and declared, “We are declaring war — anyone who breaches the forbidden area will be struck.”
The meeting included Defense Ministry Director General retired Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, and representatives from the IDF, Shin Bet, the National Security Council and the Israel Police, according to the announcement.
Katz said he and Shin Bet Director retired Maj. Gen. David Zini agreed that drone-enabled weapons smuggling across the Israel-Egypt border should be defined as a terrorist threat to allow security agencies to use appropriate tools to combat it.
The Defense Ministry’s planning and technology directorate, Mafat, will promote development of technological countermeasures in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, and the National Security Council will help advance measures including licensing requirements and legislative amendments related to drone use purchase and ownership, the statement said.
“Smuggling weapons by drone is part of the war in Gaza and is meant to arm our enemies,” Katz said. “We must take every measure to stop it. Just as we created deterrence against Hezbollah in Lebanon on the issue of unmanned aerial systems and attacks on communities, we must create deterrence here and make clear to those involved in smuggling that the rules of the game have changed and they will pay a very heavy price if they do not stop.”