Drones increasingly being used to smuggle items from Sinai to Gaza

The context surrounding the smuggling into Gaza, however, may not be a surprise.

Drones are increasingly being used to smuggle items from Sinai to Gaza, according to a new report at The New Arab.

While any report like this should be greeted with some skepticism, it is clear that drones are increasingly being used to smuggle items not just in the Middle East, but worldwide. The New Arab, also known as Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, is a London-based pan-Arab news outlet.

A number of drone smuggling attempts from Egypt into Israel have been reported over the last year. In late October of last year, a drone was downed carrying weapons from Egypt. In November, a drone carrying weapons and ammunition crossed into Israel from Egypt. Arab News noted, “The Israeli military said on Wednesday it shot down a drone that was carrying weapons and crossed from Egypt to Israel.” In January, another incident took place, where the "IDF identified and thwarted a smuggling attempt from Egypt into Israel overnight,” the Post reported at the time. The following month, a drone was downed by the IDF while trying to smuggle weapons and ammunition into the Negev. In April, another two drones carrying weapons were also intercepted.

This context illustrates that the new report about smuggling to Gaza may not be a surprise. The report claimed that recently, Gazans in Mawasi, the humanitarian area in the Strip, woke up to the sound of a drone crashing. “It became clear that what had fallen was a drone carrying bags that had been hit by an Israeli missile while flying over the tents, coming from the direction of southern Gaza, the Egyptian-Palestinian border.”

The report claims that drug smugglers have been involved in the drone operations. “They opened fire on anyone who tried to approach the area, even ambulances and civil defense vehicles were not spared.” The report claims that one drone type can carry a payload of up to 50 kilograms. That would seem like a lot for these types of drones. The report also claims that some of the drones have landed in various parts of Rafah. The report also claims “that a portion of these drones fall in the eastern areas of Rafah, specifically the neighborhoods of Al-Shawka, Abu Halawa, Zalata, Sufa, and Al-Nasr. These are areas where groups affiliated with Yasser Abu Shabab.” Clearly, the report is trying to portray Shabab, who has been under the spotlight recently in Gaza, as somehow linked to this issue.

Recent reports in Israeli media have suggested that Shabab and his men fear reprisals if a ceasefire takes place. He has reportedly been backed by Israel, but it is not clear how much influence or control he has.

"Drones loaded with drugs and contraband fall in the western areas, including the Al-Mawasi area, as well as in the eastern areas under the control of the occupation forces and Yasser Abu Shabab's gang,” the source told The New Arab. Clearly, the agenda here is to slander Abu Shabab, more than it is to discuss the drones.

The report goes on to say that smuggling via drones is not that new. It states that it actually began around the time the Gaza war started. “This came after attempts to smuggle across the border, manually or through traditional methods, failed, and were completely exposed to the occupation army as well as to the Egyptian army forces active on the border and in Sinai in general.”

The report then goes on to quote a source as saying that the smuggling is linked to larger smuggling networks that link Sinai to the Negev and possibly the West Bank, “which includes smuggling weapons and drugs to gangs active in Israel.”

The smuggling route to Gaza via this method is new, the source told The New Arab. “He explained that with the closure of the Rafah crossing and the prevention of trucks carrying goods and aid from entering the Gaza Strip, smugglers have resorted to using drones, which are purchased from several sources outside Egypt and delivered to North Sinai, where they are loaded with narcotics such as hashish and Tramadol pills [opiods], and other substances.”

The report then speaks to a source who deals in mobile phones. The man told The New Arab that he was able to bring in “mobile phones via a drone coming from Sinai, after weeks of coordination and waiting. He paid a huge sum of money for the shipment, but he was able to recover this amount due to the exorbitant prices of mobile phones in Gaza.” The report stated that the drone was carrying 100 phones.

Smuggling network dates back to over 10 years ago

A security expert told the report that the smuggling networks in Sinai date back to 2014, during which there was Operation Protective Edge. It should be recalled that the Mohammed Morsi government was overthrown in Egypt in 2013, ending the Muslim Brotherhood’s brief rule of Egypt. That was an era of chaos in Sinai when massive smuggling of weapons occurred, fueling violence. “Some gangs and groups within the Gaza Strip that participated in building smuggling networks through tunnels, especially during the period before 2014, are currently trying to exploit the situation to their advantage,” the report says.

The issue of drone smuggling in Gaza is a concern. In April, a report at Israel’s N12 indicated Hamas had attempted to get Bedouin in the Sinai to smuggle drones into Gaza. “The drones are worth only NIS 100,000 to 150,000 each and can carry up to 70 kilograms of cargo,” the Post reported at the time.