Israel retrofitting DJI commercial drones to bomb and surveil Gaza
The Israeli military has been altering commercial drones to carry bombs and surveil people in Gaza, an investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency has found.
According to Sanad, drones manufactured by the Chinese tech giant DJI have been used to attack hospitals and civilian shelters and to surveil Palestinian prisoners being forced to act as human shields for heavily armoured Israeli soldiers.
This is not the first time DJI drones have been modified and used by armies. There were similar reports about both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
At the time, DJI suspended all sales to both countries and introduced software modifications that restricted the areas where its drones could be used and how high they could fly.
However, DJI has not stopped selling drones to Israel.
A DJI Matrice 300 captured in Gaza
By 2018, DJI drones were reportedly in extensive use across numerous divisions in the Israeli military. The Israeli campaign group Hamushim found evidence that Israeli military-trained operators were using DJI’s Matrice 600 model to drop tear gas on civilian protesters during the following year’s Great March of Return in Gaza.
Despite their previous deployment by the Israeli military, their lethal use against civilians and protected targets in Gaza, as documented in this investigation, is unprecedented.
Al Jazeera has reached out to Israeli authorities to request comment on the findings of this investigation but has received no response by time of publication.
Tools of war
Sanad has documented several DJI drones that have been adapted for military use.
However, it is the powerful DJI Agras drone, developed for agricultural use, that is the most significant.
According to its manufacturers, the DJI Agras can carry a substantial payload and is capable of precision flight. As Sanad’s investigation shows, it can also be used to deliver an explosive payload to targets beyond the reach of conventional military forces.
Israeli soldiers equip a DJI Agras drone with explosives
In an incident documented by displaced civilians, footage shared on July 17, 2024, shows a DJI Agras drone dropping a bomb onto the IHH Turkish charity’s building in Jabalia, northern Gaza, less than 100 metres (330ft) from a school serving as a shelter and aid distribution centre.
In November in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, a DJI Agras drone dropped a bomb in a residential neighbourhood where civilians had fled after Israeli shelling of a UN-operated school-turned-shelter.
In addition to the DJI Agras, the DJI Mavic has been used by the Israeli military across Gaza for reconnaissance and target acquisition.
Similarly, the compact DJI Avata drone, designed for recreational filming, has been repurposed by the Israeli military to navigate and map the intricate tunnel networks beneath Gaza.
Beyond direct attacks, Israeli-modified DJI drones have been used extensively for surveillance and tactical operations throughout Gaza.
In a further incident, footage obtained by Al Jazeera Arabic from one Israeli drone shows a DJI Avata helping to track an unnamed Palestinian being used by heavily armed Israeli soldiers as a human shield – an illegal practice under international law – in Shujaiya in December 2023.
DJI double standards: Gaza vs Ukraine
In 2022, in response to complaints from Ukrainian officials that DJI was sharing critical data with their Russian adversaries, the drone manufacturer suspended all sales to its retail partners in both countries.
DJI explained the move: “We will never accept any use of our products to cause harm, and we will continue striving to improve the world with our work.”
Despite evidence of DJI drones being weaponised by the Israeli military in Gaza, DJI has had no such response.
Responding to direct inquiries from Sanad, DJI said: “Our products are for peaceful and civilian use only, and we absolutely deplore and condemn the use of [DJI] products to cause harm anywhere in the world.”
A subsequent direct query asked if it plans “to halt sales in Israel or implement measures similar to those taken in the Russia-Ukraine conflict”.
But DJI did not respond to the query not has it undertaken any measures to halt sales or impose software restrictions on where drones can fly over Gaza, allowing continued military deployments of their drones by the Israeli military.
And India is using Israeli drones
What are Israeli-made Harop drones India is said to be using against Pakistan?
Pakistani army spokesman Ahmad Sharif has said India fired several Israeli-made Harop drones at Pakistan overnight and into Thursday afternoon. Twenty-five of them were shot down, he said.
The Harop drone, produced by Israel’s Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is one of several in India’s inventory, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance report.
According to IAI, the Harop drone is a “formidable loitering munition equipped to hunt high-value targets”. Loitering munitions are designed to hover over the battlefield and attack upon the operator’s commands.
It combines the capabilities of a drone and a missile and can operate at long ranges.
