The Regavim movement, an NGO dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands, on Monday called on Jerusalem to use counter-terrorism means to combat Bedouin drone operations in the country’s south.
“The proliferation of unauthorized drone operations in the Negev has emerged as a profound security concern in recent months,” Regavim said following a meeting on the issue at the Knesset’s Special Committee for Eastern Border Settlements on Monday.
UAVs purchased from Bedouin-run shops in Bir Hadaj, Rahat and Segev Shalom have already been used to commit “major crimes, including the importation of weapons that are turned against Israeli civilians,” it said.
Yehuda Kapach, the NGOs coordinator for the south, urged Jerusalem to immediately use measures like administrative detention, tax audits and freezing and seizure of assets to combat the “strategic threat” to Israel.
“Every day, drone-facilitated smuggling corridors convey hundreds of weapons and ammunition to destinations throughout Israel,” he told the Knesset committee, saying the phenomenon constituted “an unprecedented strategic threat to Israel’s long-term stability.”
The NGO claimed that persistent drone operations along the Egyptian border have rendered parts of Israel’s southern security barrier “non-functional,” facilitating daily smuggling of arms and ammunition.
Kapach noted that the Bedouin drone resellers identified by Regavim often run their operation from illegally-built structures in the Negev.
“This particular retail enterprise carries out its illegal business from illegal premises, in broad daylight, and brazenly advertises on social media,” Kapach said. “It is a prime example of the lawlessness ... We must restore Israel’s governance in the Negev before it’s too late.”
Last week, Regavim wrote an urgent letter to Israeli authorities, calling for immediate enforcement action against a drone store built without permits on state land outside the Negev Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj.
“Track the supply chain of this illegal store and its branches, identify purchasers and, where warranted, seize devices that are being used for illegal activity,” the group wrote, according to Monday’s press release.
The Ynet outlet cited a security chief for one of the Jewish communities near the border with Egypt as saying on Tuesday that Bir Hadaj is often the first destination where smuggled weapons—including grenades, pistols and Kalashnikov rifles—are hidden until a buyer shows up.
After the Israel Defense Forces rushed interception systems to the areas of Nitzanei Sinai, Be’er Milka, Nitzana and Ezuz last month, smugglers moved their operations some six miles north and south, Ynet reported.
Over the past three months alone, the Israeli military’s Paran territorial defense brigade recorded 896 incidents of drones breaching the border, compared to 464 smuggling attempts during the same period in 2024.
Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) on Oct. 15 convened an urgent meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the issue.
“For the last two years, there has been a flood from the Egyptian border that does not stop. It’s possible that drones loaded with weapons are passing now and this is happening unhindered. The security bodies are not managing to touch this,” he stated, adding they had caught only “a few.”
“We are in a situation where the sovereign State of Israel, after it experienced the most terrible massacre of all time, allows terror organizations to smuggle quantities of weapons,” said Sukkot.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement to Ynet last month that it was “aware of the growing phenomenon of smuggling via drones and is operating in cooperation with the police, while maintaining close monitoring through a variety of methods and means, including observations, intelligence gathering, and collection.”
The military also said work was being carried out to “improve the operational response in the area.”
