While Israel’s security establishment is still grappling with the escalating, explosive drone threat from Hezbollah, residents of central Israel and Yehudah and Shomron are increasingly concerned that similar attacks could soon reach their areas as well.

Former Menashe Brigade commander Col. (res.) Oren Zini warned Thursday morning that the threat of first-person-view (FPV) drones reaching central Israel is only a matter of time.

Asked whether the first-person-view (FPV) drone threat could one day reach places such as the central city of Kfar Saba, he replied: “Absolutely. There is no question at all.”

“Anyone skeptical about this understands nothing about the Middle East,” he added. “There’s only one solution: presence — our forces inside the territory, destroying laboratories and capturing and arresting wanted suspects.”

“We always said that what happens in Lebanon — about a year, a year and a half later — becomes what is called the ‘Lebanonization of Gaza.’ As someone who fought all his years in the Strip and saw how the explosive devices from the north reached Gaza, I have no doubt this will also reach Gaza, and Yehuda and Shomron. There is a tangible and real danger here, and our best minds will have to provide a response. That same response will also be used in the other sectors.”

Kol Chai reporter Shlomo Rizel also warned of the growing drone threat from Gaza, saying that Israel’s lack of sufficient preparedness could chalilah enable a scenario resembling October 7 — including large-scale infiltrations and attacks on IDF bases and civilian communities.

“One day we could see 30 or 40 drones launching from Gaza and blowing up the entire frontline,” he warned. ”The fact that it hasn’t happened yet is a neis.”

“The drone threat is a failure of the IDF,” he said, adding that he repeatedly warned in the past year about developments on the battlefield in Ukraine, where drones have dramatically changed the nature of modern warfare. “Jewish soldiers serving in the Ukrainian army begged for someone in Israel to learn the lessons — and nobody did anything.”

Rizel revealed that Israel already possesses advanced anti-drone technologies, but that many of them have yet to reach combat forces in the field. “There are private companies with excellent solutions, but they’re still waiting for approval,” he said.

To illustrate the technological capabilities already available, Rizel recounted how a private drone he flew near a military zone was “intercepted within seconds.” He said that the main problem is that existing systems are not mobile enough to accompany every ground force operating in combat zones.

Rizel concluded by calling for urgent action. “People ask why there aren’t solutions for every soldier — the answer is to direct those questions to the IDF and the government.”

In light of the concerns that drone terrorism could spread to central Israel and Yehudah and Shomron, the IDF launched a large-scale confiscation operation, Army Radio reported on Thursday morning.

According to the report, the IDF confiscated approximately 100 drones across Yehuda and Shomron during the past two weeks alone.

For comparison, around 300 drones were seized throughout the rest of the year combined, meaning that nearly 25 percent of all drone confiscations this year occurred within just two weeks.

The drones discovered in homes and storage facilities in Palestinian villages ranged from advanced models to what were described as recreational drones, with no explosive materials.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)