Israeli Army Uses Gaza as Lab, Showroom for New Weapons

July 6, 2018 Blog, News
Palestinians taking part in the Great March of Return. (Photo: Abdallah Aljamal, Palestine Chronicle)

Human rights campaigners claim that the Israeli army and defense corporations exploit the deadly Gaza protests to test and advertise hardware like drones, sniper rifles and ‘smart’ fences.

A recent report penned by the ‘Hamushim’ human rights group, which campaigns against the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, says:

“The Israeli military industry exploits the occupation of Palestine, and specifically the siege on Gaza, as an arena to battle-test, invest in, and innovate military technology to later be marketed to the international community based on their effectiveness on Palestinian civilians.”

The Israeli defense industry has a history of marketing its products after violent clashes with the Palestinians, the report says, noting that the bloody 2014 Israeli-Gaza conflict helped the companies to sell Hermes 900 Kochav drones, next-generation Hatzav tank shells, and MPR500 ‘smart bombs.’

According to the activists, the ‘Great March of Return’ protests in Gaza have also helped Tel Aviv to promote new army tech.

Noting that the suppression of the Palestinians provided an opportunity to test out Matrice 600 and Phantom 3 tear gas drones, they wrote:

“Israeli media focused on the combat advantages of both in the military preparation for the Great March of Return and during the march itself.”

The models, dubbed ‘Sea or Tears,’ were specifically designed for the border police as crowd dispersal tools.

Another type of drone introduced against the Palestinians is the so-called ‘Shoko Drones,’ or skunk water drones, which bombard protesters with foul-smelling and very sticky liquid. After the deployment of drones was deemed “successful,” the army purchased “hundreds” of them, the activists write.

Some of the drones deployed along the Gaza fence were tasked with shooting down kites rigged with Molotov cocktails. But, as the activists write, according to witnesses, the very same drones were used to fire rounds at people on the ground.

The report says the Gaza protests became a testing ground for the extensive use of sniper fire to suppress protesters.

Since Palestinians began staging mass rallies near the Gaza-Israeli fence on March 30, scores of protesters have been killed and thousands more injured by Israeli army gunfire.

The UN General Assembly and numerous human rights watchdogs condemned Israel for the use of disproportionate violence against the Palestinians.

(RT, PC, Social Media)

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