GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Israel has been ramping up its use of small drones, or quadcopters, to drop explosive bombs and “shoot to kill” more Palestinians, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Tuesday.
The Israeli army uses electronically controlled quadcopter drones remotely for a variety of tasks, including espionage and surveillance, issuing displacement orders, frightening civilians with loud noises, and—most dangerously—using them as a weapon to kill and injure Palestinians, the rights group said.
According to Euro-Med, the Israeli army has increased the number of extrajudicial executions and premeditated killings of Palestinian civilians. Drones are being used for sniping and shooting operations in various areas of the Gaza Strip, and they are also being used to infiltrate homes and narrow alleyways. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has continued to kill Palestinians on a massively large scale by targeting residential areas with artillery and aerial strikes.
Israel’s army has released a video documenting its use of these kinds of quadcopter aircraft to drop bombs on groups of people and houses while conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The Geneva-based group revealed that Israeli army forces deliberately targeted and executed Silah Muhammad Ahmad Odeh, 52, while she was trying to escape from the Jabalia refugee camp by raising a white flag. Odeh was killed due to direct fire from Israeli quadcopter aircraft on May 21 in front of her family.
These drones have killed dozens of civilians, as confirmed by Euro-Med Monitor in earlier reports, by firing automatic machine guns mounted beneath an aircraft at random gatherings, or shooting directly at people.
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinian civilians have been killed or wounded by Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones, in addition to those killed during the Israeli army’s ground incursions, which began at the end of October 2023 and have intensified in recent weeks.
Israel has used quadcopter drones in a systematic and widespread manner lately to carry out extrajudicial executions and premeditated killings of Palestinian civilians, according to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor. These drones are used, in particular, against civilians who attempt to return and inspect their homes after the Israeli military retreats from areas it has attacked by land or air.
Given their constant presence in the air, these aircraft are also used to terrorize, intimidate, and negatively impact the psychological well-being of Palestinian civilians by making horrifying noises and broadcasting orders from Israeli soldiers.
