The Israeli army has altered commercial drones to carry bombs and people in Gaza, discovered an investigation by the Sanad de Al Jazeera Verification Agency.
According to Sanad, drones manufactured by the Chinese technological giant DJI have been used to attack hospitals and civil shelters and to monitor Palestinian prisoners who are forced to act as human shields for very armored Israeli soldiers.
This is not the first time that DJI drones have been modified and used by armies. There were similar reports on both sides of the Russian-Ukraine War in 2022.
At that time, DJI suspended all sales to both countries and introduced software modifications that restricted the areas where their drones could be used and how high they could fly.
However, DJI has not stopped selling drones to Israel.
Use of Israel Drones Dji
The use of the Israeli army of DJI drones is not new.
For 2018, DJI drones were in extensive use in numerous divisions in the Israeli army. The Israeli campaign group Hamushim found evidence that the operators trained in Israeli military were using DJI's matrice 600 model to eliminate tear gas from civil protesters during the great return march of the following year in Gaza.
Despite its previous deployment by the Israeli army, its lethal use against civilians and the objectives protected in Gaza, as documented in this investigation, is not precedents.
Al Jazeera has communicated with the Israeli authorities to request comments on the results of this investigation, but has not received a response for publication time.
Sanad has documented several DJI drones that have been adapted for military use.
However, it is the powerful dron Dji Agras, developed for agricultural use, the most significant.
According to its manufacturers, the DJI Agras can carry a substantial payload and is capable of a precision flight.
As Sanad's research shows, it can also be used to deliver an explosive payload to objectives beyond the reach of conventional military forces.
In addition to the DJI Agras, the DJI Mavic has been used by the Israeli army through Gaza for the recognition and acquisition of objectives.
Similarly, the DJI Avata Drone Compact, designed for recreational filming, has been reused by the Israeli army to navigate and map the intricate tunnel networks under Gaza.
Attacks north of Gaza
At the end of 2024, Israel had siege north of Gaza, taking the population to the edge of hunger and imposing conditions described as “apocalyptic” by the observers of the United Nations.
Residents and humanitarian organizations reported an alarming number of what seemed to be civil drones armed with explosives.
In an incident documented by displaced civilians, the images shared on July 17, 2024 show a DJI Agras drone that dropped a bomb in the building of the Turkish beneficial organization IHH in Jabalia, Northern Gaza, less than 100 meters (330 feet) of a school that serves as a refuge and help distribution center.
In November, in Beit Lahia, North of Gaza, a DRON DJI Agras launched a bomb in a residential neighborhood where civilians had fled after the Israeli bombardment of an unpaid school became a Shelter.
The people who witnessed the bombing told Sanad that the attack seemed calculated to instill fear.
Surveillance and Urban War
Beyond direct attacks, DJI drones modified by Israelis have been widely used for surveillance and tactical operations throughout Gaza.
In an additional incident, the images obtained by the Arabic of Al Jazeera of an Israeli drone show a DJI Avata that helps track an unnamed Palestinian that is used by strongly armed Israeli soldiers as a human shield, an illegal practice under international law, in Shujaiya in December 2023.
The individual is seen opening the doors of the school to ensure that there were no Palestinian fighters inside, closely monitored by another drone that captured the entire operation.
Dji Double Stores: Gaza vs Ukraine
In 2022, in response to the complaints of Ukrainian officials that DJI was sharing critical data with their Russian adversaries, the drone manufacturer suspended all sales to their retail partners in both countries.
DJI explained the measure: “We will never accept any use of our products to cause damage, and we will continue to strive to improve the world with our work.”
Despite the evidence that DJI drones are armed by the Israeli army in Gaza, DJI has not had such an answer.
Responding to the direct consultations of Sanad, DJI said: “Our products are only for peaceful and civil use, and we leave and condemn the use of [DJI] products to cause damage anywhere in the world. “
An posterior direct consultation asked if he plans “to stop sales in Israel or implement measures similar to those taken in the conflict of Russia-Ukraine.”
But DJI did not respond to the consultation, he has not made any measure to stop sales or impose software restrictions on where drones can fly on Gaza, allowing continuous military deployments of their drones by the Israeli army.
