The article examines in detail the methods and tools used to identify and confirm information about detainees, analyzing key aspects of the use of OSINT to protect human rights.
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In today’s conflict zones, such as the Gaza Strip, journalists are increasingly using drones to capture unique footage and provide objective reporting. However, drone journalism comes with serious risks, from technical failures to life-threatening military action. In this article, we examine the main dangers that reporters face when using drones in conflict zones, analyze cases of attacks on journalists, and discuss the safety measures needed to protect them.
At least 165 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Last year, the CPJ said, was the deadliest year for media workers worldwide since it began keeping records in 1992.
Covering events in Gaza using drones is an extremely risky task. The data collected shows several cases in which journalists conducting aerial photography were injured or died shortly after flying.
As part of a large-scale international project, more than 40 journalists from different countries joined forces to continue the work of their colleagues in Gaza, investigating the dangers faced by local reporters and the extent of the threats posed by working in a war zone.
At the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel officially stated that it could not guarantee the safety of journalists working in the combat zone. At the same time, it is known that Hamas used drones to determine the positions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and also used the captured footage in propaganda videos.
During the investigation, requests were sent to IDF representatives with a request to explain on what grounds they consider drones to be a threat, what rules apply to their use, and how the military determines who should be classified as a terrorist. However, no specifics were provided in response to the incidents in question, and no additional data on the two subjects of this investigation was received. At the same time, the IDF categorically denied any accusations of systemic violence against journalists.
“The Israel Defense Forces is not in a position to disclose the details of operational orders, as they are classified. However, each combat operation or strike is carried out in accordance with the current internal instructions, which oblige commanders to adhere to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law,” the response states.
The full extent of the tragedy caused by the war has yet to be assessed after a sustainable ceasefire is achieved and visits to the sites of destruction have been conducted. But already now, satellite imagery, drone footage and other visual materials collected directly on the spot have become extremely important for understanding the true scale of the catastrophe.
For example, a short drone video released in January of this year after the end of one of the stages of the ceasefire, captured the completely destroyed areas of Rafah. The footage shows dozens of destroyed houses – some razed to the ground, others severely damaged.
According to a recent interim damage assessment prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with the European Union and the UN, around 300,000 homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, and 95% of hospitals remain inoperable.
On February 15, 2024, after about six months of conflict, the United Nations shared a short video on social media showing dozens of empty or partially destroyed buildings located in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The video begins with an aerial view, filmed by a drone, showing entire neighborhoods razed to the ground in a compact area.
Over the course of more than 12 months of conflict, the Al-Shati refugee camp has suffered extensive damage.
The area and its surrounding areas were the first targets of IDF ground operations in Gaza, and in mid-November 2023, the IDF announced that it had fully captured the area. The IDF has stated that it is a major Hamas stronghold. One video, geolocated by a Geoconfirmed volunteer, shows the heavily damaged coastal part of the Al-Shati refugee camp a year later. The camp also adjoins an archaeological site to the north that was potentially damaged by the ground operation and airstrikes, as previously documented by Forensic Architecture.
The images being shared by UNRWA were taken using a drone by Palestinian journalist Abdullah Al-Hajj. Nine days after they were published online, he returned to shoot in the same area where he was seriously injured in an Israeli army strike, losing both legs.
Previous photographs taken by Al-Hajj were published by UNRWA earlier that month, and nearly 300 of his photographs have been included in the UNRWA film and photo archive, with some of the aerial photographs taken by Al-Hajj as early as 2020. He previously worked as a photojournalist for the Jerusalem-based Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, as well as other media outlets.
Speaking to our partners at Forbidden Stories, Al-Hajj said he felt a journalistic responsibility to continue filming in Gaza during the war, but he took several precautions, including only filming after the fighting had ended and when there was no conflict nearby. On the day he was injured, he said he had been filming with the drone for only about five minutes and had finished filming when he was hit. He told our partners at Forbidden Stories that he did not wear a press vest because he felt that calling himself a journalist put him at greater risk.
The IDF had previously told Le Monde that “an IAF aircraft had eliminated” “a terrorist cell using a drone that posed an immediate threat to forces in the Shati area.” This is apparently the same strike mentioned in this February 25 report.
It is unclear where the threat forces mentioned in the Israeli military’s statements were located. The IDF was reported to have conducted a two-week operation in the Al-Shati refugee camp in early February, but it appears to have ended by the 15th.
According to SkySat satellite imagery from Planet Labs, Israeli military equipment was spotted on February 8 about 2.5 km from the camp, near the Islamic University campus in Gaza City. However, by February 14, the vehicles had disappeared from the imagery.
Photos and videos show a military presence throughout February about 3.5 km south of the Al-Shati refugee camp, along the Al-Rashid Road. However, it remains unclear whether they were there at the time Al-Hajj filmed the footage.
Following the incident, SkySat satellite images showed that Al-Hajj’s house, located south of Gaza in the Zeitoun area, had been completely destroyed. The building was still standing in footage from February 24, but it was no longer visible on February 28.
The investigation has made inquiries into the incident, including asking for clarification on what threat the drone allegedly posed, why it was targeted, and what information they had about Al-Hajj himself. However, no answers have been received to these questions.
In an interview with reporters, Al-Hajj rejected all allegations of ties to Hamas or other terrorist groups, calling them “false and unsubstantiated.”
He also said that after being wounded, he was checked twice by the Israeli military — first at Al-Shifa Hospital and then when leaving the Gaza Strip through the Netzarim checkpoint, as he was heading to Qatar for treatment. “If I had been associated with Hamas, I would not have been released from Gaza for treatment,” he said.
Останнє, що Турайя зняв своїм безпілотником, — це місце авіаудару ЦАХАЛ на півдні Гази, який відбувся того ж дня. Район, який він знімав, — це сільська частина південної частини Гази, яка розташована між Хан-Юнісом на півночі та Рафахом на півдні. Загалом ця територія була відносно незачепленою ізраїльськими наземними операціями, хоча супутникові зображення показують, що Армія оборони Ізраїлю очистила невелику територію від теплиць у межах 1 км від місця авіаудару наприкінці липня та в серпні 2024 року. Останні зображення Planet Labs за січень 2025 року показують, що більша частина більшої території все ще залишається недоторканою, включаючи більшість теплиць.
About a month before Al-Hajj was wounded in the Al-Shati refugee camp, Mustafa Turaiya and his colleague Hamza Al-Dahduh were killed in an IDF strike while driving in southern Gaza, returning from reporting in the village of Al-Nasr. Turaiya was a freelance video journalist who had filmed for Al Jazeera, AFP, Reuters, and Getty Images, among others. He was killed on January 7, 2024, in the village of Al-Nasr, northeast of Rafah, shortly after taking a picture with his drone.
According to a report in the Washington Post, Turaiya and Al-Dahduh arrived at the scene around 10:30 a.m. when an airstrike forced them to leave the area in a car. They were following an ambulance when they were hit on the road at about 11:10 a.m.
Turaiya began covering the war soon after it began, sharing dozens of videos on his social media pages. In many of the videos, he can be seen holding the controls of a drone as he films himself in front of a scene of destruction. In some of the videos, he can be seen wearing a press vest, although it is unclear whether he was wearing one on the day of the strike.
The last thing Turaiya filmed with his drone was the site of an IDF airstrike in southern Gaza that took place that same day. The area he filmed is a rural part of southern Gaza, located between Khan Yunis in the north and Rafah in the south. Overall, the area has been relatively untouched by Israeli ground operations, although satellite imagery shows that the Israel Defense Forces cleared a small area of greenhouses within 1 km of the airstrike site in late July and August 2024. The latest Planet Labs imagery from January 2025 shows that much of the larger area still remains untouched, including most of the greenhouses.
Satellite images from Planet Labs before and after show the location where Mustafa Thuraya and his colleagues were filming shortly before they left their vehicle and were killed on the road south. The latest images show that some greenhouses have been destroyed, but the area is otherwise largely unchanged. Credit: Planet Labs PBC.
The IDF initially claimed that the January 7 strike on Thuraya and Al-Dahduh’s vehicle was in response to drone activity that posed a threat to IDF troops. They later released additional justifications for the strike, saying that Israel’s military intelligence had confirmed that Dahduh was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Thuraya was a member of Hamas, something that was denied by both Al Jazeera, for which they worked at the time, and the journalists’ families.
The Washington Post, citing Thurai’s friend and colleague, journalist Shadi al-Tabatibi, reported that Thurai had previously worked for about five years as a photographer for the Ministry of Religious Endowments, which is part of the Hamas-led Gaza government. It is not known when his work ended.
The analysis showed that the closest possible Israeli military activity in the area where journalist Thurai’s vehicle was hit was more than 5 km from the scene. This is confirmed by Planet’s SkySat satellite images taken on the day of the attack. The Washington Post’s analysts also came to a similar conclusion: according to their analysis, no traces of a military presence or IDF equipment were found within 2 km of the filming location, although the area surveyed was smaller.
In addition, journalists were able to review the drone footage shot by Thuraya and found no signs of soldiers, aircraft, or equipment that could indicate a threat.
Despite official requests, no concrete answer has been received from the IDF regarding the circumstances of Thuraya’s death.
The area Thuraya filmed shortly before the tragedy has not changed significantly. However, Rafah, where he and Al-Dahdu were returning, has been extensively destroyed.
Drone filming in the area remains extremely dangerous, even during a formal ceasefire. For example, the AFP news agency published a video shot by a drone after the first phase of the ceasefire was reached, but it only covered a small part of Rafah. In such conditions, high-resolution satellite imagery remains one of the key tools for monitoring the extent of the destruction.
Last August, researchers had already recorded extensive destruction in the border areas. Since then, the situation has worsened significantly, with more buildings being destroyed, including entire neighborhoods that had previously been spared.
Areas in the center of Rafah near the main market and the Al-Ghaninem residential area have been hit. The remaining buildings in the Tal al-Sultan area, which were still part of the August investigation, have now also been completely razed to the ground.
The latest satellite images from Planet, taken after the ceasefire on January 30, 2025, allow us to compare the scale of the destruction over time, complementing previous data.
Before the ceasefire, the Committee to Protect Journalists identified at least three other journalists who used drones who were killed in IDF strikes, but we were unable to find additional information about the circumstances of their deaths in open sources.
One area that was difficult to film in before the recent ceasefire because it was too dangerous was the Jabaliya refugee camp and its surrounding area. It was one of the hardest-hit areas in Gaza.
On Saturday, March 15, two airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Lahia killed at least seven people. Among the dead was Mahmoud Samir Islam Al-Bassos, better known as Mahmoud Al-Bassos, a drone journalist who previously worked for Reuters and the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
Aid workers and film crew members who were documenting preparations for Ramadan iftar and the expansion of a temporary camp were also killed.
Reuters confirmed that it had been publishing footage taken by Al-Bassos in recent weeks and expressed its deepest condolences to his family, stressing that he died while carrying out a humanitarian mission.
During the ceasefire, the journalist was engaged in aerial photography from a drone, creating visual 3D maps of war-torn areas, in order to continue the work of his fallen colleagues who documented events on the ground.
The IDF claimed in its official statement that the March 15 strikes targeted terrorists, two of whom were allegedly operating the drones. A list of names and photographs was also released, but it contained inaccuracies and misidentifications that, according to sources in Gaza, did not correspond to the actual events and the individuals killed.
The name Mahmoud Samir Islam Al-Bassos was not mentioned on the list, nor was his photograph. Instead, it listed another individual with a similar name, who was described as a “Hamas militant disguised as a journalist,” and mentioned a possible connection between the drone used and the Islamic Jihad group.
However, the results of the investigation indicate that the individual mentioned in the IDF statement has no connection to Al-Bassos and was not killed in the airstrike.
The charity for which the deceased worked said it categorically denied any accusations of involvement with the militants. According to them, the foundation’s employees were carrying out an exclusively humanitarian mission and were deliberately attacked while filming.
Analysts conducted geolocation of both strikes, and, according to their conclusions, the first airstrike was carried out approximately 2 km from the Israeli border, and the second – 3 km. This casts doubt on the claims of an imminent threat voiced by the Israeli side.
When asked to provide evidence to support the accusation, the IDF refused, stating that it would not comment on claims that have already been published.
The Committee to Protect Journalists added Mahmoud Samir Islam Al-Bassos to its official list of dead journalists.
Retired Lt. Col. Maurice Hirsch, who served in the Israeli army’s legal department for nearly two decades, said that flying drones in a combat zone always carries serious risks. In his opinion, the military has the right to consider any unknown drone near its forces as a potential threat.
Another IDF reservist, Michael Ofer-Ziv, who worked at a military center when the war began, admitted that he had not received any official rules of engagement, which created dangerous uncertainty. He also confirmed that there is an informal understanding in the army that if the drone is not ours, we open fire on it without finding out who its operator is.
The IDF has declined to comment on specific incidents or provide evidence regarding the allegations of journalist deaths, including the allegations against Thurai and the strike that wounded Al-Hajj. Both individuals and their families categorically deny any involvement with the militants, calling the allegations baseless.
In its response, the IDF stated that all hostilities are conducted in accordance with international law, strikes are directed only at militants, and that the army does not target civilians or journalists unless they are participating in hostilities. At the same time, they did not provide any confirmation or evidence regarding the aforementioned cases.
It also reported that some incidents had been referred to the relevant authorities for consideration, but it did not specify which cases were in question or what results of the investigations should be expected.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) emphasized that the use of drones in journalism is a relatively new practice, and the risks when working in conflict zones must be assessed on an individual basis. At the same time, they emphasized that journalists should be protected by international law, regardless of the tools they use.
CPJ coordinator Doji Daoud said there have been documented cases of drone journalist deaths, and in some cases there are suspicions that drones may have been deliberately disabled remotely. She stressed that even in a war zone, there are ways to neutralize a drone without killing its operator.
CPJ also found no evidence to support allegations against a number of journalists, including Mustafa Turay, that they had links to militants. Daoud said Israel has repeatedly made similar claims without providing any convincing evidence, and in no case has the journalist been proven to have been involved in the fighting.
UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said that local Palestinian journalists play a critical role, as access for international reporters is limited. The use of drones only increases the risks to their lives, as the rules for using this technology in a military environment remain unclear.
Legally, drones are civilian objects, and journalists have the right to use them. However, the responsibility for protecting civilians, including journalists, lies with the armed parties. If the target of a drone is difficult to identify, military forces should take additional steps to verify — rather than acting on the principle of “better safe than sorry.”
Khan also said that the Israeli army’s standards of conduct are worrying, as assumptions about Hamas connections are often used without proper verification, which increases the risks for journalists.
She said that independent and transparent investigations are needed into every case of journalist deaths. If the military is confident in its rightness, it should allow outside observers in.
In the only case where Israel has completed an investigation into a strike on a civilian convoy, it admitted a mistake in identifying aid workers as armed individuals. The officers were dismissed and the commander was reprimanded.
Despite the constant threat, some journalists continue to work in Gaza, using drones, phones and cameras. But with the resumption of hostilities, the level of danger is rising again, making it difficult to objectively report on what is happening to Palestinian communities.
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