Palestinian Territory, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor – The Israeli occupation army is using booby-trapped robots equipped with tons of explosives to commit massive acts of destruction and killing, including massacres, willful killing, enforced starvation, and widespread forced displacement in northern Gaza.
Israel’s army has completely cut off the northern Gaza Governorate from Gaza City by deploying military vehicles, placing sand barriers and the rubble of destroyed homes, in addition to fire cover from drones.
“The sound of the explosion was louder than the sound of air strikes, destroying roughly six or seven houses at once. Regardless of whether civilians are inside the houses or not, the occupation army blows up the robot.” A Palestinian trapped in Jabalia, northern Gaza
Numerous testimonies have been provided to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor regarding the Israeli army’s use of booby-trapped robots that are remotely detonated, causing extensive damage to surrounding homes and buildings and a significant loss of life at a time when the work of civil defense and ambulance crews is nearly entirely disrupted.
Israel’s use of booby-trapped robots is prohibited under international law, as these robots are considered indiscriminate weapons that cannot be directed or limited to military targets. Due to their nature, they directly hit civilians, or hit military targets, civilians or civilian property indiscriminately. As such, they are illegal weapons under international law, and using them in residential areas is a crime against humanity in and of itself.
In his testimony to the Euro-Med Monitor team, one of the people trapped in an area near the Al-Qassabi neighborhood, southwest of Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip (his name was withheld for security reasons), said: “On Wednesday evening (9 October), a huge explosion occurred in the Al-Qassabi neighborhood, close to where we were.
There was an enormous explosion sound. That was the loudest I have ever heard it. We can now differentiate between different explosion sounds, so we can determine if this sound is coming from artillery, aircraft, or another source. In fact, the sound of the explosion was actually louder than the sound of air strikes, to the point that white dust covered the entire area. It was subsequently discovered that this explosion was caused by a robot equipped with tons of explosives, destroying roughly six or seven houses at once. Regardless of whether civilians are inside the houses or not, the occupation army blows up the robot.”
Two additional robots were blasted by the Israeli army, according to the Euro-Med Monitor field team, in the Tawam and Zahraa neighborhoods next to the Civil Defense area west of Jabalia camp. Another robot was exploded in the vicinity of the Abu Ali Mustafa intersection in Bir al-Naja, west of Jabalia camp.
Another witness trapped in the Faluja area told Euro-Med Monitor: “There were huge explosions in the area where we are trapped near the Al-Sharafi roundabout, and we cannot identify it,” adding that “More than 50 people are currently besieged in a house, three of whom were injured but could not be transferred to the hospital.”
During the second incursion into Jabalia camp last May, the Israeli army started using these robots for the first time in Gaza. As a result, many civilians were killed and numerous homes in the camp were destroyed. At the end of last May, photos of two booby-trapped robots ready to explode surfaced from the Tamraz Station area in the center of the Jabalia camp.
Using three different methods—aerial bombardment, booby-trapped robots, and planting explosives in homes before blowing them up—the Israeli army has increased its operations to destroy homes and residential buildings in the areas of its incursion in northern Gaza.
Estimates suggest that over 200,000 people live in the debris of destroyed homes and shelter centres in the North Gaza Governorate. These people refuse to comply with Israel’s systematic forcible displacement orders, given that within a week, Israeli forces issued no less than six evacuation orders to the southern Gaza Strip.
Roughly 200,000 more people in the Gaza Governorate are starving and experiencing ongoing bombing as a result of the blockade of supplies and goods. In other words, over 400,000 people living in the northern Gaza Valley are at risk of forced starvation, displacement, and killings by other means.
In addition to destroying and burning bakeries and destroying what remained of the water wells, Israeli forces continue to barricade northern Gaza from receiving humanitarian supplies, leaving those who survive the killings and direct bombardment at risk of starvation.
The majority of residents are trapped without access to food or other necessities of life as they are unable to leave their homes or shelter centres in search of food, and especially since many of them have been forcibly evacuated multiple times, leaving behind their personal possessions and food supplies.
Although Israeli evacuation orders directed local residents to move south via Salah al-Din Street, the Israeli army targeted all people leaving their homes or shelter centres. Additionally, numerous shelters have been targeted by Israeli aircraft, injuring many displaced individuals.
The health situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic, as Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is only partially operating, has become the main hospital receiving victims, despite receiving an Israeli evacuation order.
Due to a shortage of medical personnel, Al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals are only partially operational as well. Ambulance and civil defense crews face difficulties in reaching victims of the Israeli attacks, either because roads were closed off after several homes were destroyed or because of the Israeli quadcopter attacks.
The United Nations and the international community must intervene immediately to save the hundreds of thousands of residents of northern Gaza: to stop the ongoing Israeli genocide now entering its second year, to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, to hold it accountable for all its crimes, and to take all effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians.
