Palestinians say they know when an Israeli drone is in the air: Cell phones stop working, TV reception falters and they can hear a distant buzzing. They also know what's likely to come next — a devastating explosion on the ground.Palestinians say Israel's pilotless planes have been a major weapon in its latest offensive in Gaza, which has killed nearly 120 people since last week. "Our experience is that the drone missile is successful in hitting its targets, and it's deadly," said Dr. Mahmoud Assali, a Palestinian physician who works in the emergency room of a northern Gaza Strip hospital that has often treated Palestinian gunmen hit by Israeli drones. "The drone has a zone of around 15 meters (50 feet) where it decimates everything. It targets people and leaves them in pieces," Assali said.
Israel is at the forefront of the drone technology that is increasingly being used in hotspots around the world. The unmanned craft provide a deadly and cost-effective alternative for armies to target enemies, without risking their own pilots' lives and reducing civilian casualties in heavily populated areas.
The use of drones is shrouded in secrecy, and Israeli defense officials refuse to comment publicly on whether they are being used in airstrikes in Gaza. However, Israeli officers in private conversations have confirmed use of the weapons.
Wary Gaza militants using binoculars are on constant lookout for drones. When one is sighted overhead, the militants report via walkie-talkie to their comrades, warning them to turn off their cell phones and remove the batteries for fear the Israeli technology will trace their whereabouts.
A militant from the southern Gaza Strip who belongs to the Islamic Jihad group said drones were mostly used to target individuals, and not structures. He said they often hovered at much higher altitudes than manned aircraft and their missiles were frequently more destructive, leaving deep gashes where they landed. The militant said the drones usually targeted slow-moving targets, like people walking, or cars slowing down to avoid potholes in a road. "It looks like it makes small circles in the sky, but before it's about to fire a missile, it slows down," the militant said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared being identified by Israel. "It's not like any other plane. You don't see the missile leaving, it's very quiet."
Damian Kemp, an aviation desk editor at Jane's Defence Weekly, said Israel is probably the first country in the world to use unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for both surveillance and to fire missiles. Israel is a world leader in the field and "capable of doing everything from the very small to the very large," he said. He said drones were likely more accurate, cost-effective and safer than manned F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. "The key thing in a UAV is it does missions that are dull, dirty and dangerous," Kemp said. "They can be up there for a long time and in areas where you don't need to put a pilot at risk."