Israel using drones to terrorise Palestinians in Gaza, rights group warns

The Israeli occupation army has intensified its use of quadcopter drones as tools of psychological intimidation, surveillance, and direct killing of Palestinians in Gaza, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has reported.

Multiple incidents have been documented in which quadcopters were used “to broadcast eerie, distressing sounds deliberately intended to incite panic among civilians,” the rights group explained. In other cases, “quadcopters entered crowded homes at night, hovered within rooms, filmed sleeping families, and then exited through windows, leaving behind deep psychological trauma.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s field team documented the frequent low-altitude flights of Israeli quadcopters, which would deliberately hover outside windows, in corridors of shelters, and above displaced persons’ tents. The drones would circle slowly before broadcasting disturbing sounds “specifically designed to terrify and psychologically exhaust civilians,” it said.

These included the sounds of dogs savaging children, screams of children in pain, cries from elderly people, and women ululating in grief, alongside constant ambulance sirens designed to suggest massacres were occurring nearby.

“These were not random noises. Rather, they are part of a deliberate, layered tactic meant to drain civilians mentally, pressure them to flee, and simultaneously lure them into deadly traps.”

The drones prompt “terrified civilians to approach windows, balconies, or leave their tents—seeking clarity or escape. As soon as one appears, the drone may open fire, turning a basic human response into a calculated act of murder. The quadcopter becomes both a psychological weapon and a physical one,” it added.

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Mohammed Salameh, a resident of Al-Remal in central Gaza, told the rights group: “These drones have conditioned us not to respond to cries for help because we simply can’t tell if it’s a real emergency or a trap designed to lure us into being shot. We’re paralysed by doubt and fear.”

In several cases, quadcopters invaded civilian homes, displaced persons’ tents, and shelters at night, hovered over sleeping families, recorded them before leaving.

One woman from Gaza City said: “I was sleeping with my children … As we lay on the ground in the dark, I heard the unmistakable sound of a drone. I opened my eyes to find it hovering above us. I panicked but kept still and whispered the shahada, expecting it to fire. I kept blinking, and it remained there, likely filming us, before exiting through the same window.”

She concluded: “Even though it didn’t shoot, the fear was overwhelming. Now, I dread going to sleep. I fear the darkness, the windows, the doors — any opening to the outside. I no longer feel safe. At any moment, these drones can invade our homes, film us, or simply open fire.”

The relentless psychological stress experienced by Palestinians in Gaza as a result of Israel’s use of such tactics, Euro-Med explained, “is manifesting in severe neurological and mental deterioration across various forms: chronic insomnia, recurring nightmares, sudden emotional breakdowns, inability to concentrate, aggressive behaviour, and cycles of deep depression or complete emotional numbness.” These effects are particularly pronounced among the most vulnerable groups: children, women, and the elderly.

The Israeli army’s use of quadcopter drones for intimidation and direct targeting of civilians is not random but forms part of a documented and repeated pattern. Last year the rights group reported that Israel had used drones to broadcast cries for help by women and babies to lure and shoot Palestinians in Gaza.

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