A disturbing report was published by Walla on Wednesday evening amid serious security concerns about the scourge of smuggling operations across the Egyptian border.

According to the report, female lookout soldiers in the Edom Division on the Egyptian border told their parents that in recent weeks the soldiers were instructed that “it is not necessary to report every case of a drone crossing in light of the many cases of the various drone crossings operated by smugglers from the Israeli side.”

A source in the Southern Command was quoted in the report as saying that drones cannot be purchased in Sinai, and therefore, “Egyptian security forces are in control of the issue.” Therefore, he claimed, smugglers in Israel are the ones who purchase and operate the drones, launching them into Egypt and returning them to Israel loaded with weapons or drugs.

Security officials say that the huge number of drone smuggling operations across the border has overwhelmed the IDF and police, leading to incidents going unreported and unaddressed. A senior official told Walla that security forces are unable to thwart all the operations on the 200-kilometer-long border. “We try to foil what we’re aware of, but we’re not aware of all the operations,” he explained.

The report noted that Shin Bet forces, accompanied by local security forces, recently carried out an extensive operation in the Israeli-Bedouin village of Bir-Hadaj, detaining and interrogating suspects allegedly involved in drone smuggling operations.

There has been increasing public concern about the issue, and residents of the area say that drones continue to be seen flying over residential areas.

The IDF rejected the claims, stating, “From an examination that was conducted, no such instruction exists. Every incident is reported to all relevant bodies and handled according to operational need.”

Ynet reported earlier this week that despite Defense Minister Yisrael Katz’s recent announcement declaring that the Egypitan border area will be designated as a closed military zone, the measure has not been adopted and is not expected to be implemented soon.

Despite this, the IDF claimed that the army has succeeded in “significantly reducing the number of smuggling operations in the border area.”

In September, Channel 12 reported that female lookouts from the Paran Brigade who have been stationed along the Egyptian border for over a year said that they still have no personal weapons despite promises from IDF leadership in the wake of the October 7 massacre.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)