Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi is warning of a threat of swarms of drones and explosive drones penetrating from the Gaza Strip into the city and the Gaza border communities, and is demanding that the defense establishment urgently prepare for an aerial raid scenario, Walla reported.

In a letter sent Monday to Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and the commanders of the Southern Command and the Gaza Division, Davidi demanded a dedicated warning system for residents, the deployment of drone-interception means, and defensive guidelines adapted to the threat.

The letter was titled “Urgent strategic warning – the threat of drones and aerial raid on the city of Sderot and the border communities.”

“I am turning to you urgently, out of supreme responsibility for the safety and security of the residents of Sderot and the Gaza border,” Davidi wrote. “More than three years have passed since the events of October 7 and the war is still going on, and as a mayor I feel obligated to prepare the city for the next threats.”

Davidi referred to developments in the fighting in Ukraine, including the use of drone swarms. “For us, the residents of the Gaza border, this is a glaring warning sign that sharpens the magnitude of the danger of an aerial raid by drones launched from the Gaza Strip,” he wrote.

He claimed that weapons and advanced equipment are already being smuggled into Gaza by heavy drones. “I ask the security officials again and again – what is the answer to this threat? What will happen if swarms of drones reach the city of Sderot?”

“This keeps me up at night, and I don’t know if the protected spaces in the city will provide an answer, or whether the enemy will be able to insert explosive drones into the protected space, as I see being done in other combat arenas,” he wrote.

“My deepest fear, and that of the city’s leadership, is that the defense establishment continues to prepare for the battle that was – focusing on classic protection against rockets – and not for the future battle that is already peeking over the fence,” Davidi added.

Davidi presented three main demands: Home Front Command guidelines for civil defense against drone swarms and aerial raids; connecting Sderot to detection systems that identify low-altitude threats, with targeted real-time alerts; and deploying drone interception and attack means around the perimeter of the city and the border communities.

His letter joins demands raised by representatives of 11 local authorities in the western Negev, whose emergency and security forum is calling for an urgent joint meeting with the security bodies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)