A group of congressmen have recently requested the Department of State to release a document that concludes there are currently 30,000 bona-fide Palestinian refugees from the 1948-9 war with Israel—as against the 5.2 million refugees (and their descendants) claimed by the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the special international body whose sole responsibility is to provide these refugees with humanitarian aid. Adam Kredo reports:

Congressional officials familiar with the classified report . . . say the State Department continues to keep it secret in order not to disrupt billions of dollars in allocations to UNRWA. . . . Those familiar with the report’s contents [asserted that] the State Department is intentionally trying to keep the document secret not for national-security reasons but because of the political implications of its release. . . .

The report’s findings . . . could spur real progress in the peace process by redefining the parameters of the debate on Palestinian refugees’ right of return to the Jewish state.

“If we can solve the ‘right to return,’ if we can define refugees in such a way that it becomes possible, that’s an enormous step forward in the peace process,” said Representative Chris Stewart of Utah. “As long as you have a right of return for millions of people, there’s no way in the world the Israeli government would agree to or could agree to it, but if you could redefine refugees as a number that is manageable and fair and represents the reality, that becomes, instead of a stumbling block, it becomes a building block [for] trying to reinvigorate the peace process.” . . .

Other senior congressional sources familiar with the situation said UNRWA and its supporters are frightened to see the report released as this could affirm longstanding arguments against the aid organization.

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.