Israel using explosive-laden robots to demolish residences in Gaza, rights body says

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor on Wednesday said that the Israeli military has converted American-made M113 armoured personnel carriers into booby-trapped robots and is using them to explode in the midst of densely populated neighbourhoods.

These robots are loaded with no less than seven tons of explosives, the rights body said in a statement. 

"This escalation forms part of its declared objective to destroy the city and forcibly displace its residents, and represents a grave escalation of the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, now in its 24th consecutive month," as per the statement. 

Euro-Med Monitor’s teams documented the detonation of ten booby-trapped armoured vehicles this morning, Wednesday, 17 September, between residential homes in Street 8, south of Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, one of Gaza City’s central residential areas.

At least three other vehicles were detonated among homes in al-Nafaq Street east of the city, along with several more in the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan Pool in northern Gaza City. 

The statement comes after reports said that the Israeli military is preparing to deploy an “unprecedented” number of explosive-laden, remote-controlled vehicles into Gaza City. 

The practice is referred to by the Israeli military as “suicide APCs.”