Israel has one of the world’s best defenses against missiles and rockets, but struggles to detect slower-moving unmanned aircraft, experts said.
Minutes before a deadly Hezbollah drone strike on an army base in northern Israel this weekend, Israeli police officers notified the Air Force about reports of a suspicious aircraft, the police said. They were told not to worry because the aircraft was Israeli, prompting the officers to close the case.
The Air Force’s assessment appeared to be wrong: Moments later, four Israeli soldiers were killed and dozens more were wounded in the Hezbollah attack, the latest of several recent drone strikes that have highlighted weaknesses in the way that Israel detects unmanned aircraft.
In July, the Houthi militia in Yemen hit an apartment building in Tel Aviv, killing one civilian. Hezbollah last week hit a nursing home north of Tel Aviv, causing damage but no casualties. Earlier in the year, Hezbollah broadcast footage that was captured by a drone that flew over sensitive installations in Haifa, seemingly without being detected.
The latest strike, on a training base south of the Israeli city of Haifa, highlighted how Hezbollah retains the ability to hurt Israel despite devastating Israeli attacks on its leadership and infrastructure. It also pointed up Israel’s defensive shortcomings, prompting the Israeli military to launch an investigation and its chief spokesman to acknowledge on Sunday: “We must provide better defense.”
One of the civilians who spotted the drone, Viki Kadosh, said she was “so frustrated, because 10 minutes before the hit, we had called in to warn about it.” Speaking on Monday to Galei Tzahal, a radio station run by the Israeli military, Ms. Kadosh said: “We spotted it flying very low, right above our home. We heard the sound it was making and immediately noticed there was something strange about it.” The Israeli military declined to comment.
