By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“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.”

The Israeli 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, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

In a report published on Monday, the Geneva-based human rights group said it had received numerous testimonies “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.”

Remotely controlled and detonated against civilians who didn't comply with forced displacement orders… The Israeli army deploys new, internationally banned weapons to drive Palestinians out of northern Gaza.

MORE: https://t.co/5Sl8agkIcJ pic.twitter.com/daLbC1AJF4

— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) October 14, 2024

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, the rights group said.

Due to their nature, they directly hit civilians, military targets, 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,” said Euro-Med.

‘Enormous Explosion’

A resident trapped near the Al-Qassabi neighborhood, southwest of Jabalia camp in northern Gaza told Euro-Med that last Wednesday there was “an enormous explosion.”

“It was the loudest I have ever heard,” the resident, whose name was withheld for security reasons, said.

He explained, “We can now differentiate between different explosion sounds, so we can determine if this sound is coming from artillery, aircraft, or another source.”

With booby-trapped robots loaded with explosives, Israel escalates killing and destruction in northern Gazahttps://t.co/3fjYRG7VGw

— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) October 14, 2024

“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,” he continued.

The resident said 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.”

He said that regardless of whether civilians are inside the houses, “the occupation army blows up the robot.”

The Israeli army has completely cut off northern Gaza from Gaza City by deploying military vehicles, placing sand barriers and the rubble of destroyed homes, in addition to fire cover from drones, according to Euro-Med.

Homes Besieged

The Israeli army exploded two additional robots in the Tawam and Zahraa neighborhoods close to the Civil Defense area west of Jabalia camp, Euro-Med’s field team said.

QNN: Casualties among civilians have been reported due to the Israeli airstrike that targeted Al-Fouqa school, which shelters displaced Palestinians in Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/RZRqA6l7J9

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 14, 2024

Another robot was blown up in the vicinity of the Abu Ali Mustafa intersection in Bir al-Naja, west of Jabalia camp.

A resident trapped in the Faluja area told Euro-Med Monitor that there were “huge explosions in the area where we are trapped near the Al-Sharafi roundabout, and we cannot identify it.”

“More than 50 people are currently besieged in a house, three of whom were injured but could not be transferred to the hospital,” the resident added.

First Used in May

The Israeli army began using these robots for the first time in Gaza in May, during its second incursion into the Jabaliya refugee camp, the report said.

As a result, it added, 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,” Euro-Med said.

Israel is Turning Gaza into ‘Uninhabitable Ruins’ – Doctors without Borders

“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,” the report explained.

The rights body said 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,” said Euro-Med.

400,000 Affected

Another 200,000 Palestinians 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,” the rights group emphasized.

No Food Aid has Entered North Gaza This Month – World Food Programme

Euro-Med urged the United Nations and the international community to “intervene immediately to save the hundreds of thousands of residents of northern Gaza,” adding “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.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)