$1 million operation: Hamas paying Negev Bedouins to smuggle drones into Gaza Strip

Despite only being worth between 100,000 and 150,000 shekels, each drone smuggling operation costs one million dollars.

 A drone flying above the tank in the background (illustrative) (photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)
A drone flying above the tank in the background (illustrative)
(photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Hamas has been collaborating with Bedouins in the Negev to smuggle drones into the Gaza Strip for the past several weeks, N12 reported on Friday.

Each drone is smuggled into the Gaza Strip at a rate of one million dollars per drone; at least ten drones have been delivered.

The drones are worth only NIS 100,000 to 150,000 each and can carry up to 70 kilograms of cargo.

Hamas is expected to modify the drone for military use in combat against IDF troops.

None of the transferred drones have returned to Israeli territory, N12 reported.

 The drone the IDF thwarted which was smuggling drugs from Egypt into Israel on the border between the two countries, March 8, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The drone the IDF thwarted which was smuggling drugs from Egypt into Israel on the border between the two countries, March 8, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The smugglers are expected to be paid through cash transferred through Egypt and Jordan.

A stronger response

Police called for stricter investigations of such incidents, calling for an escalation in responses.

"Drones are coming to Gaza and could become a deadly weapon [of war]," police announced. "This is aid to the enemy during wartime. It is impossible to investigate this as a criminal incident. The perception must change. It pays off for the Bedouin smuggler, even when he is caught - he is sentenced in the most serious case to months in prison and receives a million dollars."

The IDF struck drones in the southern Gaza Strip in early March, in which two people were injured.

The IDF had tracked the drone flying into Gaza from southern Israel and struck the people who had come to collect it.