Press Releases
10 May 2023 |Reference 34/2023
Israeli drones continue to fly incessantly over Gaza, emitting a loud and irritating sound that creates a constant state of terror, panic, and anxiety among the more than two million Palestinians living in the Strip. The sound of drones resurrects distressing feelings generated by Israel's numerous large-scale military offensives against Gaza over the past 20 years, which have involved heinous acts of killing, forced displacement, and destruction of thousands of homes and property.
Since last week, and with the beginning of the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza on Tuesday, 9 May 2023, the Israeli army has greatly increased the use of drones over the Gaza sky. Their sound can be heard clearly and irritatingly throughout the Strip.
At approximately 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 May 2023, an Israeli drone attacked a group of people driving a car in the village of al-Qarara, southeast of Khan Younis City, killing two Palestinians. The charred bodies of Wael Mohammed al-Agha, 34, and Saed Jawad Ferwanam 28, arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and remained unidentified for about three hours. Two other people were injured in the attack.
At noon on 10 May 2023, the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Israeli aggression stands at 15, including four children and four women, while the number of wounded has reached 20, most of them women and children.
Israel has been using drones to extrajudicially kill Palestinians since at least 2004. Since then, they have been extensively used and have grown to be the most lethal weapons, particularly in assassinations and attacks on crowds. They have also been used deceptively to provide advance notice to inhabited homes that would later be attacked, resulting in a significant civilian death toll and considerable material damage.
Al Mezan’s documentation shows that between 2000 and 2023, at least 2,148 Palestinians, including 378 children and 86 women, were killed by Israeli drones. 349 of them were killed inside their homes, including 103 children and 54 women. During the same period, Israeli drones attacked and damaged 3,332 homes in the Gaza Strip.
As more than two million Palestinians in Gaza are enduring the second day of Israel’s aggression, Al Mezan calls on the international community to put pressure on Israel to immediately stop its military attack on the Strip, stop flying drones over Gaza, re-open the crossings, lift the illegal closure and blockade, and provide protection for Palestinian civilians.
Al Mezan further calls for activating accountability mechanisms to ensure redress for victims of Israeli violations, ending Israel’s unlawful occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza, and guaranteeing the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
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