As-salamu alaykum - Explosive robots still terrorise Gaza neighbourhoods
As-salamu alaykum. The ceasefire allowed thousands to return to their homes in Gaza City to see the damage and try to salvage what’s left, but many came back to flattened streets and the fear that some of the remote-controlled explosive devices are still sitting among the rubble.
In areas like Jabalia, Sheikh Radwan and Abu Iskandar people are walking through destroyed neighbourhoods and wondering where undetonated machines might be hiding - and what to do if they find one. That uncertainty only adds to the pain of coming home.
These “robots” became a constant terror in northern Gaza after the army first used them in Jabalia camp in May 2024. Reports say their use surged before the October ceasefire, with claims they were destroying hundreds of homes a day in Gaza City and Jabalia.
The devices are armoured carriers loaded with explosives and dragged into position by armoured bulldozers. Once soldiers pull back, the vehicles are detonated remotely, leveling everything nearby. Civil defence officials here say the blast radius can be massive - hundreds of metres in some accounts - and the damage to buildings and services is overwhelming.
Sharif Shadi, 22, from Jabalia camp, says the sound of those machines became a new, terrifying noise on top of airstrikes and artillery. He remembers seeing a robot being pulled toward his block one morning while he was out getting supplies for his family of nine. He ran but the blast threw him under rubble. Those closer to it were completely wiped out. May Allah have mercy on them. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.
A friend Sharif ran with didn’t make it. He describes the panic and how, after the explosion, there was nothing left of the man he had been with.
Human rights groups say the indiscriminate destruction from these devices amounts to prohibited weapons, and using them in populated areas could be a war crime. The Israeli military hasn’t publicly acknowledged the use of such weapons, though some outlets have reported on them.
The harm continues after the blast. Medical staff warn the explosions leave foul, toxic fumes that cause breathing problems. Dr Mohammed Abu Afash from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society says people suffer repeated cases of suffocation and respiratory distress after inhaling gases they believe contain dangerous chemicals and heavy metals.
Um Ahmed al-Dreimli, a 50-year-old mother in Sabra, describes the smell as burned metal and gunpowder that stuck to their lungs and made breathing hard long after the blast. She was at her damaged childhood home with her family when neighbours screamed and the explosion came with no warning or chance to flee.
Civil defence workers say the army uses these machines to erase buildings and landmarks before moving forward, and they’ve seen them across northern Gaza - Jabalia camp, Beit Hanoon, Tal az-Zaatar, Beit Lahiya, Tuffah, Shujayea, Zeitoun, Sabra, Sheikh Radwan and downtown Jabalia.
There’s no missile whistle or siren - just the heavy metallic rumble and then a huge plume of white smoke. One worker noted that while an airstrike might damage a couple of houses, a robot can destroy a whole row of ten homes. They’ve also been used in areas cut off from rescue teams, preventing ambulances and civil defence from reaching the wounded.
During the January pause in fighting, a team found an unexploded robot in Tal el-Zaatar and saw a yellow, paste-like substance inside that they couldn’t identify - different from other explosives they knew.
Now families are back, and responders are worried because they still find unexploded devices. All civil defence teams can do is cordon off the area and warn people. They report that specialised bomb-disposal equipment needs to be brought into Gaza to make these sites safe.
May Allah protect the innocent and ease the suffering of the people here. By Ansam Al-Kittaa.
https://www.aljazeera.com/feat