Drones continue to define the Gaza war for the IDF and Hamas – analysis

Drones continue to be a key part of the battlefield in the current war. This includes drones used in Gaza and also drones produced by Hamas. It also involves drone threats from Lebanon and Yemen.

For instance, a drone struck a school in Eilat on Thursday. The incident is being investigated. The IDF said “A UAV hit a civilian building in the city of Eilat, in southern Israel. The identity of the UAV and the details of the incident are under review.” 

In Gaza, the IDF uncovered a drone factory that Hamas was using to make drones. It is located the manufacturing in a residential building. This illustrates the complexity of targeting drone threats and preventing them.

Drones are small and can be made in civilian areas. They don’t require huge factories. This is because small drone threats are the type that Hamas wants to focus on. Small drones can drop munitions and also do surveillance.  

In Gaza on Thursday, “IDF soldiers discovered a Hamas weapons manufacturing and storage facility used to produce and store UAVs and weapons. The site was located in a residential building, in close proximity to schools in the center of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza,” the IDF said.

“In the building, Hamas’ explosives and operational plans were found right next to a children’s bedroom.” The drone factory discovered in Gaza shows new components for drones. It’s unclear if these were made in Gaza or smuggled. It shows Hamas’s capabilities have increased in the last several years on the drone front.  

Drone war in the North

Meanwhile in the north drones also play an important role. The IDF said today that “terrorists fired at an IDF UAV in the area of Har Dov, northern Israel. An IDF UAV struck the source of the fire and IDF soldiers are responding with artillery fire.”

Hezbollah also uses drones and there have been a number of incidents of the IDF downing drones that were flown from Lebanon. In addition, Hezbollah has tried to down Israeli drones.  

In the West Bank, the IDF is also using drones for strikes and surveillance. Today “IDF soldiers conducted counterterrorism activity in the Jenin Camp and an IDF UAV struck an armed terrorist cell in the Jenin Camp.” In addition, drones aided IDF soldiers to identify an armed terrorist cell, the IDF said. 

Drones are transforming the IDF’s way of war. While drones can’t do everything, they are helping soldiers do a lot more. For instance, the new Spark drone that was developed as part of the IDF Storm Clouds program for the 144th UAV squadron is playing a role in the war in Gaza, an article at Walla said.

These drones, based on the Israeli company Aeronautics Orbiter family of drones can perform many missions. The drones are not that large and not heavy. The IDF does not provide the specifics, but other Orbiter models can weigh from several kilograms to dozens of kilograms and some have a range of 100km or 25 hours of flight time.  

The Walla article quoted IDF Southern Command praising the drone and noted that the Spark drone can “greatly assist the maneuvering forces with an emphasis on the brigade combat team. The enemy is in no hurry to show himself and when it happens it is for short periods of time. If we know how to identify him in time using diverse methods and attack him, we will extend the achievement that will lead to the destruction of Hamas.” 

Israel has a plethora of other drones. It uses the Hermes 450 or Zik to carry out surveillance and strikes. It uses the IAI Heron as well as Elbit Systems Thor and Magni X systems. It also uses Rafael’s Firefly loitering munition, known as Maoz. All these types of systems form a kind of multi-layered drone army that can be used against adversaries.

The adversary also uses drones. Hamas uses drones to try to target armored vehicles. Vehicles in Gaza now are seen with cages over them, apparently to interdict drones. The Houthis also use drones, such as the Samad-3. This means the current conflict and different fronts are now all part of the new era of drone wars.  

Seth J. Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machine, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future (Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow and The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.