Local officials near the West Bank say small drones carrying explosive payloads could threaten nearby towns and 'reach Tel Aviv in six minutes'The quiet in Kibbutz Eyal, near Israel's boundary with the West Bank, was briefly interrupted one morning this week by the roar of a U.S. aerial refueling aircraft overhead.Residents are accustomed to commercial aircraft approaching nearby Ben Gurion Airport, but the unusual noise startled some who feared it could signal what they see as an emerging security threat: small attack drones capable of carrying explosive payloads, similar to those widely used in the Russia-Ukraine war.GalleryA Hezbollah attack drone carrying an explosive payload“We've already heard from the military that drones have been found in the West Bank, and when you look at what's happening in Lebanon, you worry,” said Yuval, a resident of the kibbutz.Security officials said the IDF's working assumption is that such drones, also known as first-person-view (FPV) drones, are not yet operational in the West Bank. As a precaution, however, the military confiscates every drone it detects across the territory.Senior security officials from communities near the West Bank told ynet that dozens of drones have recently been located and seized by the military.The head of the Drom HaSharon Regional Council, Oshrat Gani Gonen, said she believes the threat is no longer theoretical.“There won't be a long evolution here,” she said. “Some of them are manufacturing the drones themselves, and some are receiving them from Iran. This is also a real threat to Israel's central cities. If a drone crosses the boundary line, it could reach Tel Aviv in six minutes.”Drom HaSharon Regional Council head Oshrat Gani Gonen (Photo: Kobi Kuenkas)The regional council includes 31 communities along Israel's central frontier with the West Bank.Gani Gonen said council officials have held ongoing discussions with Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the military's Central Command, and with Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, about the drone threat.“We are the soft underbelly of the country, and we are demanding that the military protect us from this threat and provide us with every tool we need to defend ourselves,” she said.She said local authorities are seeking radar coverage, electronic detection systems and counter-drone technology. “There are no civilian solutions, so the military has to provide them,” she said.Gani Gonen added that residents will not feel secure until additional defensive measures are deployed. “We have a petition pending before the High Court of Justice demanding that the state provide 50 million shekels ($17 million) for security so that we can operate a regional command center and purchase defensive equipment,” she said.Local security officials say they are also preparing for the possibility of drone attacks.Drom HaSharon Regional Council security coordinator Yoav Saban (Photo: Kobi Kuenkas)Yoav Saban, the regional council's security coordinator, said the issue was recently discussed at a meeting of security officers from communities along the seam line separating Israel from the West Bank.“This is something we deal with every day, so we discussed how civilian authorities should respond,” Saban said. “The drone threat exists across the entire sector. Every week, the military publishes the number of drones it has confiscated. It's a real threat that must not catch us by surprise.”Even drones without advanced fiber-optic guidance systems can pose a danger, he said. “A standard commercial drone can still drop a fragmentation grenade on a kindergarten, for example,” Saban said. “The enemy is learning very quickly, and we need to be ready today. We need funding for detection systems so this entire sector is monitored, and for systems capable of bringing drones down. They need to be deployed along the seam line because we are the country's front line.”