Over the course of the past year, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and several Palestinian organizations have been propagandizing against the anticipated White House peace plan, the content of which remains unknown. In fact, the PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, has made clear that he has no intention of even considering it. Bassam Tawil comments:

Abbas has . . . repeatedly announced his rejection of the unseen “deal of the century,” [as President Trump once dubbed it]. He has referred to the plan as a “conspiracy” and the “slap of the century.” How then can he turn to his people and suddenly accept it—or any deal that might recognize Israel’s right to exist? . . .

[PA officials as well as] anti-Israel activists in the Arab and Islamic countries appear worried that, should they make peace with the “Zionist entity,” their people might be exposed to democratic values and freedom of expression. They seem concerned that Arabs and Muslims will wake up one morning and start demanding free and democratic elections like the ones held every few years in Israel. . . .

The anti-Israel campaign in the Arab and Islamic world sees peace with Israel—and not failed leadership, bad economic policies, and corruption—as the biggest threat to Arabs and Muslims. . . . Yasser Qadoura, who represents a Lebanon-based group called the Popular Committee for Palestinians in the Diaspora, says that his organization is now making a major effort to educate Arabs and Muslims about the “dangers” of peace and normalization with Israel. He said that his followers and he are planning to publish a “list of shame” containing the names of Arabs and Muslims who are caught . . . trying to make peace with Israel.

Anyone whose name appears on the list will immediately be denounced by Arabs and Muslims as a “traitor.” Treason, in many of the Arab and Islamic countries, is a charge punishable by death. The “list of shame” would therefore be seen by Arabs and Muslims as a license to kill anyone who dared even to talk about peace with Israel.

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.