An investigation by Al Jazeera's SANAD verification agency found that the Israeli military has been changing commercial drones to carry bombs and monitor people.
According to Sanad, drones made by Chinese tech giant DJI have been used to attack hospitals and civilian shelters and monitor Palestinian prisoners for being forced to serve as human shields of heavily armored Israeli soldiers.
This is not the first time the military has modified and used DJI drones. There are similar reports on both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022.
At that time, DJI suspended all sales and introduced software modifications that limited the areas where drones could be used and the altitude they could fly.
However, DJI has not stopped selling drones to Israel.
Israel's use of DJI drones
It is not new to the Israeli army's use of DJI drones.
By 2018, DJI drones were reportedly widely used in numerous departments of the Israeli military. Israeli campaign group Hamushim found evidence that operators of Israeli military training were using DJI’s Matrice 600 model to land tear gas in the following year’s return to Gaza.
Although the Israeli military has previously deployed their deadly use of civilians, the targets of protection and protection in Gaza recorded in this investigation are unprecedented.
Al Jazeera has contacted Israeli authorities for comment on the findings of the investigation, but received no response at the time of publication.
Sanad recorded several DJI drones that have been used for military purposes.
However, this is a powerful DJI Agras drone for agricultural use development, which is the most important.
According to its manufacturer, DJI Agras can bear a lot of payloads and is able to perform precise flights.
As Sanad's investigation shows, it can also be used to provide explosive payloads for targets beyond traditional military forces.
In addition to DJI Agras, the Israeli military's Israeli army in Gaza also used DJI Mavic for reconnaissance and target acquisitions.
Similarly, the compact DJI AVATA drone designed for entertainment shooting has been reused by the Israeli military to navigate and map complex tunnel networks below Gaza.
Attack on Northern Gaza
By the end of 2024, Israel had siege to northern Gaza, pushing the population to the brink of famine in what UN observers described as "apocalypse" and impose dangerous conditions.
Residents and humanitarian groups reported that it appeared to be a shocking number of civilian drones loaded with explosives.
In the incident recorded by displaced civilians, video shared on July 17, 2024 showed that DJI AGRAS drone threw the bomb to the IHH Turkish Charity Building in Jabalia, northern Gaza, less than 100 meters (330 feet) of the school, a shelter and aid distribution center.
In November, in Beit Lahia, DJI Agras drone dropped a bomb in a residential area, civilians fled the bomb after Israel shelled an unmanned school in Israel into a robbery.
Witnessing the bombing told Sanard that the attack seemed to be to instill fear.
Surveillance and urban warfare
In addition to direct attacks, Israeli modified DJI drones have been widely used for surveillance and tactical operations throughout Gaza.
In further incidents, videos obtained in Al Jazeera in Arabic by an Israeli drone showed that DJI AVATA helped track an illegal act used by armed Israeli soldiers as a shield of humanity – under international law – in December 2023 in Shuyaya, illegal practices were conducted by international law.
Seeing the man open the school door to make sure there are no Palestinian fighters inside, another drone that captured the entire operation closely monitored.
DJI Double Standards: Gaza and Ukraine
In 2022, in response to complaints from Ukrainian officials that DJI shared key data with Russian rivals, drone manufacturers suspended all sales to retail partners in both countries.
"We will never accept any product to cause harm, and we will continue to work hard to improve the world through our work," DJI explained.
Despite the Israeli military's weapons in Gaza, the DJI did not respond in this way.
"Our products are for peaceful and civilian use only and we absolutely regret and condemn (DJI) products that cause harm in any part of the world," DJI said in response to Sanad's direct inquiry.
The subsequent direct inquiry asked whether it plans to "stop Israeli sales or implement measures similar to those taken in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict".
But the DJI did not respond to the inquiry and did nothing to stop sales or software restrictions on where drones could fly over Gaza, allowing the Israeli military to continue military deployment of its drones.