Archaeologists working in the Israeli city of Lod recently discovered a Roman-style mansion with elaborate mosaics that clearly belonged to a wealthy family. Ruth Schuster writes:

The archaeological find indicates the house survived in one form or another from the [beginning of the] Roman era—the 1st century CE—to the late-Roman era, around the late-3rd century or early-4th century. Based on other Roman-era homes found in the area, which also had mosaic decorations, it appears that this luxurious [home] had been in the elite neighborhood of Roman-era Lod. The Israel Antiquities Authority excavators also found Roman-era coins, ceramics, and marbles, as well as other signs of luxury such as fragments from frescoes typical of the finer houses of Rome itself. . . .

The [most prominent of the] newfound mosaics depicts nothing but animals and nature. No people. But it has a motif of three fish in the middle. . . . [It’s possible] that the inhabitants had been Jews who eschewed the human figures in art due to a biblical prohibition. Or maybe the house belonged to early Christians, [as fish are an ancient Christian symbol], but no other artifacts typical of the Christian faith have been discovered there. . . . Or maybe the owners were pagans. . . .

The [other] Lod mosaics were first found in 1996. In what’s becoming a cliché in Israeli archaeology, the initial discovery was made by construction workers, in this case building a sewage system, supervised—as is the norm in Israel—by archaeologists. . . . Eventually [the mosaic] will presumably be housed in the future Lod archaeological museum, . . . which is being built directly next to where it had been found in the first place.

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.