One of the reasons Hamas' attack was tragically successful was the comprehensive use of new tactics borrowed from the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the Israeli Haaretz, which analyzed videos released by the militants.
At the beginning of their attack, Hamas utilized small and relatively inexpensive drones that damaged and disabled Israeli surveillance systems and advanced defenses. This included remotely controlled turrets with machine guns, which cost from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars each. Hamas used this tactic for the first time.
In one video, it is clear how a drone placed an explosive device on such a machine gun turret on the Gaza border and safely flew away before the explosion disabled the turret.
In another video, a drone is seen dropping a hand grenade or another type of munition from an altitude of several tens of meters onto a group of Israeli soldiers within a military base. There are also other similar videos circulating online showing drone attacks on IDF military posts along the border fence.
Furthermore, during this Hamas attack, they managed to destroy at least one Merkava Mark IV tank by dropping a munition on it from a drone. The Merkava Mark IV is considered one of the best tanks in the world, in part because of its active defense system, "Trophy." However, as it turns out, this system can intercept anti-tank missiles aimed at the tank but may not be as effective against explosives dropped by drones.
The media notes that similar tactics involving drones were previously used in the region only by representatives of ISIS and Hezbollah. Both sides in the war in Ukraine have also actively practiced this tactic. However, the Israeli army had not previously encountered this tactic, as they had primarily used drones for reconnaissance purposes.
"All that we have seen [in Ukraine], we have seen here. These systems can be simple to make; all you need is a drone, downloadable software, explosives, and black electrical tape," says Liran Antebi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies of Israel.
According to her, experts had previously warned of the Israeli Defense Forces' unpreparedness to counter such tactics, but these warnings were ignored. The relative success of Israel's anti-missile system, "Iron Dome," is believed to have dulled the vigilance of the Israeli military, even though it cannot effectively counter the threat from small drones.
