IDF Military Censor Lifts Ban on Journalists Reporting on Israel’s Use of Armed Drones to Strike Targets
Edited by: Fern Sidman
After years of banning journalists from reporting that Israel uses armed drones to strike targets, the IDF’s Military Censor has finally allowed journalists to publish what many already knew, according to a report on the Yeshiva World News website.
“At the end of the staff’s work, during which the censor examined the field of attack drones in a thorough and factual manner, it was found that there is no impediment to publishing the IDF’s use of attack drones as part of its operational activities,” the military censor stated in a message on Wednesday evening.
While the international press has reported the use of attack drones by the Israel Air Force for at least the past 20 years and their use has been extensively documented in US diplomatic cables as well as at international airshows, the IDF never publicly disclosed the use of such platforms and Israeli journalists who attempted to publish articles based on those reports were prevented from doing so by the censor.
Ynet News reported on Wednesday that the drones have been used by the air force and artillery units and were part of the IDFs operations to foil terrorist attacks from the Gaza strip, Syria and Lebanon in the past 30 years.
The drones vary in sizes, and some can strike from a distance of dozens of kilometers away from a target, according to the Ynet report. Some of the strike drones made in Israel were sold to foreign armies in several continents, with deals worth billions of dollars.
In a statement released to the media, the IDF said that the most recent drone usage occurred on Tuesday, when gunfire from Gaza targeted an Israeli agricultural community near the border, as was reported by Ynet. “A drone was used to strike at a Hamas military position in Northern Gaza, in Beit Hanoun.” the IDF said.
Israel National News reported that the drone used on Tuesday was the ‘Zik’ Hermes 450 UAVs which are armed with missiles to attack Hamas’ position in Gaza.
The ‘Zik’ UAVs have been in use for many of its targeting assassination missions in Gaza because the craft is able to strike its target with a high degree of accuracy without collateral damage, as was reported by INN. The craft is also used to perform the ‘roof-knocking’ procedure to keep uninvolved civilians from being harmed.
INN reported that the Hermes 450 UAV, made by Elbit, has been defined as the “workhorse” of the Israeli Air Force. Its wingspan is ten meters, maximum weight 150 kg, 6 meters long and it costs about two million dollars. It is capable of flying for 20 consecutive hours and operating within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the take-off area.
Ynet reported that two weeks ago, the IDF used a drone against a target near Quneitra on the Syrian Golan Heights. Reports in Lebanon and Syria claimed the strike was carried out by a rocket launched from a drone
“A Syrian citizen was killed near his home after he was hit by an Israeli guided missile launched from a military base in the Golan Heights,” the Syrian military said, as was reported by Ynet.
Over the years, international media reported on Israeli use of strike drones, but an official statement was never made until now.
In one of the reports, Fox News said in 2021, that Israel made use of drones to gather intelligence, and hit targets during the May fighting with Hamas, according to the Ynet report
