Several Palestinians and activists testify to the increasing use of drones in the occupied West Bank, particularly by the army and settlers, to whom the government handovers the devices. The objectives would be to intimidate, surveil, demolish and make daily life unbearable.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:58 Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 11:03

Four men, with smiles on their faces, strike a pose, each with a drone in their hand. The photo was posted on September 3, 2026 on X by Israeli settler Elisha Yered, a member of the leadership of Front Hills, a settler organization in the occupied West Bank whose goal is to create and strengthen illegal settlements. In the caption, Elisha Yered claims to have distributed the devices to four settlements in the West Bank – territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

“Drones provide an essential means on the ground: both to monitor attacks and arson in real time, and to document events and refute accusations of bloodshed,” he writes. He adds: “And above all: a huge thank you to the Jews who participated in the purchase of this security equipment and who allowed us to support our activists.”

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Elisha Yered is also a member of Hilltop Youth, a group of young settlers who regularly commit acts of violence against Palestinians and their villages in the occupied West Bank. He was also part of a group of armed settlers who allegedly killed a 19-year-old Palestinian boy, Qusai Jammal Mi'tan, in August 2023 in the Palestinian village of Burqa. Since April 2024, it has been under European sanctions.

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“They started sending drones over us at night, during the day, in the morning, anytime”

The use of drones by the Collines du Front is symptomatic of a policy of increasingly massive use of these devices by different actors in the occupied West Bank. The buzzing machines are sent over Palestinian homes and crops. A harassment that Abdel (pseudonym), a Bedouin and cattle breeder living near Jericho, northwest of the Dead Sea, knows well. He and his family were forced to leave their village of Shalal al-Auja in January after numerous attacks by settlers.

Abdel claims that the latter followed them to their new location and are prolonging their suffering. He and his wife have sent us several videos of drones flying over them, usually late at night. He recounts almost daily intimidation:

"I was displaced from Shalal al-Auja, my family and I settled 10 kilometers away. Two and a half months after my arrival, they [the settlers] established an outpost about 500 meters from my house. This outpost has nothing, they just launch drones to harass people. After that, they started sending drones over us at night, during the day, in the morning, at any time. moment... At first it was every day, but recently it's two or three days a week every car that comes into your house, or when you go out to bring food to the sheep or anything else, they immediately launch the drone behind you. my new home. They attacked me in the very heart of my home and beat me."

“Drones are used to monitor the presence of new construction”

Shai Gortler is a research associate at the Human Sciences Research Center at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, specializing in surveillance, incarceration and colonization. He claims that four entities are using drones in the occupied West Bank for different reasons:

"The first are the settlers. They use drones to intimidate and gather information. Then there are the regional councils [governmental bodies in the occupied West Bank bringing together several illegal settlements, editor's note], which monitor new constructions [Palestinian, editor's note]. The third are the NGOs. The most important is Regavim, which in Hebrew means "clod of earth" [Israeli NGO under European sanctions, co-founded by the Israeli minister of Finance, Jewish supremacist Bezalel Smotrich, Editor's note] It uses drones for the same reasons as the regional councils: to monitor the presence of new constructions. It then calls the Civil Administration [Israeli government body in the occupied West Bank, Editor's note] Finally, the last group is the Israeli army, which uses its drones to monitor and demolish. drive away the Palestinians' flocks of sheep or goats."

“They even invade your privacy, inside your own home”

Faris (pseudonym) is a farmer in the village of Burqa, in the Ramallah governorate. According to the NGO Peace Now, Burqa is close to 12 Israeli settlements. He says he witnesses drone intrusions to disperse the sheep.

"Certain shepherds who were grazing their sheep on the outskirts of the village were confronted with drones. The settlers use drones to scare away the sheep: they make them fly very close to the flock and the noise greatly disturbs the animals, who therefore leave in all directions. The objective is in particular to create a situation which then facilitates the theft of sheep. We had already noticed the presence of drones after October 7, 2023, but not at this frequency. Those who used them the most were mainly the army or the police. The problem with drones is serious. They even invade your privacy, inside your own home. Sometimes you only see the drone when it is already near your window. We have gone from monthly use, or even less frequent, to an almost permanent presence.

“In general, when the settlers want to launch an attack or commit a theft without being spotted by the inhabitants – who could try to prevent them –, they take off the drone. The drone can then monitor the entire area quietly, identifying the paths by which they can enter and those by which they can leave. They thus establish their route and plan their operation.”

Israeli government support

Benjamin Netanyahu's government has accelerated the establishment of new settlements in the occupied West Bank since its formation in 2022, and approved the creation of 103.

In 2026, the Israeli government allocated a fund of 50 million shekels (more than 14 million euros) to finance "security equipment", including drones and infrastructure intended for outposts and illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

But the government and the Ministry of Colonies and National Missions are not limited to financial and legislative aid: they directly provide equipment to the colonies and participate in delivery ceremonies of “security equipment”.

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On Instagram, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not hesitate to appear during an equipment distribution ceremony in July at the "Zarzir farm", an illegal colony established in 2025. We see him next to a table with drones, first aid kit and other equipment, then personally offering equipment to the person who established the colony, Mol Yessa.

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The previous year, in July 2025, the Benyamin regional council, which brings together 17 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, welcomed the latest distribution of equipment, including, according to it, 20 all-terrain vehicles, night vision devices and drones.

In its report "The Elimination Project", the Palestinian rights NGO B'tselem notes that as of 2020, the Ministry of Colonies had allocated 20 million shekels (or more than 5 million euros) to regional councils located in the West Bank so that they could monitor the establishment of new Palestinian constructions. These councils can therefore request funds from the ministry to purchase surveillance and aerial photography equipment, including drones. The use of drones by the Israeli army in the West Bank is also documented from that same year.

Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal by the United Nations. In March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its concern about “ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank after “the intensification of attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods, the refusal to provide humanitarian aid and forced transfers”. He considered that the “illegal transfer” of Palestinians “constitutes a war crime” and can in certain cases “amount to a crime against humanity”.

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