To release their new “Document of General Principles and Policies,” leaders of Hamas held a press conference at a hotel in Qatar, where the organization’s main office is located. Clifford May explains why Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, emir of the small but wealthy country, hosts the terrorist group:

[Sheikh al-Thani] is extraordinarily adept at playing both ends against the middle. He provides Hamas not just with a capital-in-exile but also with much of its funding. He supports other Muslim Brotherhood organizations throughout the region. Financiers of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups operate openly in Qatar. At the same time, the emir transmits Qatari perspectives—a less polite term would be Islamist propaganda—around the world through Al-Jazeera, the state-funded international television network.

But Qatar has another face. It hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East. It contributes millions of dollars to several Washington think tanks. And it lavishly subsidizes satellite campuses [in Qatar] for American universities. Among them are Georgetown, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Virginia Commonwealth.

The [satellite] campuses are located in “Education City,” where the main mosque regularly features Islamist clerics. For example: Mudassir Ahmed, who from the pulpit last year said: “Kill the infidels. . . . Count them in number and do not spare one!” Another preacher called for Allah to “render victorious our brothers the mujahedeen . . . in every place” and to “guide their shooting.”

What do the administrators of the American colleges say about this? Not a word. When it comes to Islamists, too many academics long ago gave up the struggle to see what’s in front of their noses.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.