Investigation by Israeli outlets 972 Magazine and Local Call finds drones are used to teach Palestinians ‘through blood’ not to return to their homes.The Israeli army is weaponising Chinese-made drones to kill Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, according to an investigation by the Israeli publications 972 Magazine and the Local Call.
The drones are operated manually by soldiers on the ground to bomb civilians – including children – to force them out of their homes or prevent them from returning to areas where Palestinians have been expelled, the outlets reported on Sunday.
The publications interviewed seven soldiers and officers to produce their findings, they said.
The report was published as criticism of Israel’s plan to set up an internment camp in southern Gaza is growing. Former Israeli Prime Ministers Yair Lapid and Ehud Olmert said it would amount to a “concentration camp” if Palestinians there are not allowed to leave.
“The weaponisation of civilian drones to kill and dispossess Palestinians is the latest revelation of the cruelties normalised in Gaza and further evidence of how Israel is trying to forcibly transfer the population to the south of the Strip,” Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Israel has banned Al Jazeera from reporting from Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Soldiers are using mostly Evo drones produced by the Chinese company Autel, which are sold commercially for about $3,000 and used by photographers, the investigation found.
“However, with a military-issued attachment known internally as an ‘iron ball’, a hand grenade can be affixed to the drone and dropped with the push of a button to detonate …