Bloomberg, the American site, has reported that the low-cost drones equipped for carrying explosives and destroying cameras, communication systems, and remotely controlled rifles by the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, have exposed vulnerabilities in the high-tech Israeli defenses, posing a challenge to some of the world’s most technologically advanced powers.
Marissa Newman, the author of the site's report, clarified that what troubled the soldiers on Israel’s southern border on the seventh of October wasn't the explosion of rockets coming from Gaza; instead, it was an unusual buzzing sound they hadn't heard before, as a fleet of commercially available drones that can be purchased online for a mere $6,500 filled the skies above the Israeli border fence, which is valued at a billion dollars.
Vulnerabilities and Warnings
Benzion Levinson, the CEO of Heven Drones, a company that provides the Israeli military with heavy and hydrogen-powered drones, believes that the war with Hamas is a wakeup call for first-rate armies regarding their lethal capabilities. "We have these giant drones, we have airplanes, and our technology is much more advanced," he stated.
Hamas’s use of commercial drones to launch attacks, similar to Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion, revealed a significant gap in the air and ground defenses boasted by Israel, where these low-budget tactics have outperformed a far more advanced adversary.
Breaches and Invasions
With the penetration of high-tech surveillance systems, thousands of Hamas fighters crossed the border in trucks and hang gliders. An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on how the drones were confronted, or on the failure of early warning systems, stating, "Questions of this kind will be studied at a later stage" after the war.
Although Israel has updated the Iron Dome system, which uses interception devices to protect against short-range missiles to detect large drones, many of Hamas’s drones are still able to penetrate. The military is testing a laser-based system designed to intercept smaller missiles and short-range rockets, but it will not be ready for at least another year.
Among the systems developed by this initiative, now undergoing field testing at military bases, is an application that connects two mobile phone cameras and audio systems to scan the skies for drones, using a 3D printed casing that can be mounted on vehicles. The group aims to quickly introduce this inexpensive alert system.
A Daunting Program
Hamas’s drone attacks still pose a strong threat, according to Liran Antebi, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, who says, "They give you the ability to use precision or guided munition, something that only very advanced countries could do a few years ago. With a criminal mind and small equipment, you can do terrible things like Hamas’s first attack."
Hamas developed these tactics with its ally Iran and the Tunisian engineer Mohamed Zouari, who led the group's efforts to develop drones before he was assassinated by Israeli intelligence in 2016. His name has been given to a model of the drones.
The site noted that the effectiveness of Hamas’s drone program aggravates the growing concerns that non-state actors might develop lethal weapons using dual-use technology, which sales cannot be tracked. "Such minor equipment could enable fringe players to coordinate devastating attacks."
Many soldiers in Gaza have resorted to shooting down drones, and the Israeli military said that it has allocated a precise handheld targeting system to a soldier in each infantry unit for the first time. This system can be mounted on assault rifles and improves accuracy against moving targets like drones or enemy fighters.
Israel had a system on the Gaza border specifically designed to counter drones, but its operation had not yet begun. It is capable of detecting drones and controlling them from several kilometers away, redirecting them from their intended targets.
