Eyewitnesses: Israeli suicide drones detonate inside Palestinian families’ tents in new mass-fatality attacks

The Israeli military has begun deploying a new method of targeting and killing civilians in its ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip: suicide drones.

Eyewitnesses from across the strip described two incidents to Mada Masr in which these drones were used to kill displaced families in different areas by exploding inside their tents. Another incident was reported at an UNRWA school in northern Gaza.

Saaed Abu al-Nada, displaced from his home and sheltering in the coastal Mawasi region west of Khan Younis, witnessed the bombing of his relatives' tent a few days ago in the same area. Although designated by the Israeli military as a safe zone, the area has still been targeted by numerous airstrikes.

“I immediately ran out when I heard the sound of the explosion, only to find that the fire had consumed the entire tent and everyone inside. We found the charred bodies of my relatives,” Abu al-Nada recalled.

He told Mada Masr that after his family extinguished the fire, they found the remains of a drone that had killed all the members of the targeted family. “The drone caused a fire in the tent, leaving no room for anyone to escape,” he said.

Mohamed Ruwaished, displaced to Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, told Mada Masr that he too witnessed a suicide drone detonate inside a tent, where the Asaliya family were sheltering, on Thursday.

The remains of the drone, which killed the entire family, were also found at the site of the bombing. Footage of the mass-killing circulated online in the following days.

On the same day, an UNRWA school in Jabalia camp was also targeted by a similar Israeli suicide drone, as reported by Al-Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif. 

The three drone attacks add to the daily aerial bombardment and ground-level shelling with which Israeli forces are assaulting Palestinians in the strip.

Since Israel resumed its war in March, breaking a fragile ceasefire and sending troops back into areas of Gaza’s northeast and south, nearly 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced across the strip.

In the 24 hours leading up to Sunday afternoon, hospitals in Gaza had received 44 bodies and 145 people injured by Israeli attacks, the Health Ministry in Gaza announced.

Since the start of its aggression on the strip in October 2023, Israel has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians and injured over 116,869.