Known in Gaza as “booby-trapped robots”, the vehicles are decommissioned armoured personnel carriers (APCs), rigged with explosives and operated remotely by Israeli forces.
They are driven deep into urban areas before being detonated, causing massive blasts and widespread destruction.
The practice is referred to by the Israeli military as “suicide APCs.”
Israeli outlet Walla reported that the military has stationed a large number of these outdated APCs along the Gaza boundary, converting them into “mega-explosives” for use in its ground offensive, which it said began on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Jerusalem Post said the use of old M113 APCs had tripled under the orders of Southern Command chief Yaniv Asor.
According to Israeli media, the explosions are so powerful that some have been heard as far away as central Israel.
Palestinians say the blasts are “earth-shaking” and cause widespread terror and destruction in their wake.
“They’re extremely powerful. They reduce entire buildings to crushed rubble,” Hamza Shabaan, a Gaza City resident who witnessed the robots’ explosions, previously told Middle East Eye.
“They are far more devastating than air strikes.”
At least 100 explosive robots were used in densely populated areas between 13 August and 3 September alone, according to the Gaza-based Government Media Office.
The nonprofit Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reports that around 300 residential units are destroyed daily due to these explosions.
The use of these robots is occurring at an “unprecedented pace”, suggesting a strategy “to wipe the city off the map”, Euro-Med Monitor announced.
“Meet Israel’s most dystopian weapon used to terrorise Gazans into fleeing south: APC vehicles repurposed into robotic giant bombs,” Palestinian researcher Muhammad Shehada wrote on X.
“Israel’s army has been swarming Gaza city with those APCs to indiscriminately barrel bomb overcrowded neighbourhoods & create chaos,” he added.
This method is not new. Explosive-laden APCs were reportedly used across Gaza during the early months of the genocide, despite initial denials from the Israeli military.
Testimonies from soldiers from as early as July 2024 confirmed their deployment.
According to a recent Maariv report, the tactic was first developed after the 2014 Gaza war.
It has since become “a method of operation that enables the clearing of roads, the demolition of buildings, and the destruction of enemy infrastructure without exposing forces to direct threats”.
But it’s not just “suicide APCs” massed along the Gaza border. The Israeli army has also positioned dozens of heavy engineering vehicles, according to Walla.
These include both civilian and military-grade equipment – some armoured against missiles and explosives – intended to support ground forces and destroy “threatening infrastructure and structures”.
“In the past week, dozens of heavy vehicles have been moved to the Gaza border,” Walla reported.
“A large number are already inside. More are expected to join in the coming days.”
A military source told the outlet that the vehicles are “awaiting orders to enter both central and secondary missions”.
The army reportedly places “great importance” on these machines and is working to get them fully operational.
The equipment, manufactured in the United States, recently arrived in Israel following delays by the Joe Biden administration. Their shipment was later approved under President Donald Trump.
Since the start of the war, these vehicles, often operated by settlers and far-right “hilltop youth” hired for the task, have been used to systematically demolish homes and civilian infrastructure across the Gaza Strip.
