SAEDNEWS: A promotional video released by Israel’s state‑owned arms manufacturer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, showing its Firefly “kamikaze” drone striking an unarmed individual in Gaza has drawn sharp criticism and allegations of war crimes.
According to Saed News, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems ignited controversy after posting footage of its Spike Firefly drone autonomously identifying, tracking, and neutralizing a lone figure in northern Gaza. Shared across Rafael’s social media channels under the tagline “Spike Firefly in urban warfare,” the video portrays the miniature munition hovering above debris‑strewn streets before diving into its target, accompanied by military‑style music and on‑screen prompts: “identifies the target,” “tracks it,” and “neutralises the threat.”
Open‑source analyst Anno Nemo geolocated the footage to al‑Tawam, concluding it was filmed between June and December 2024. Yet the clip offers no evidence that the individual posed any military threat—he appears unarmed and solitary, raising fresh questions about the ethics of marketing lethal technology with real‑world footage. “Killing what seems like an unarmed person walking the street not engaged in hostilities is an apparent war crime,” argues Nimer Sultany, a public‑law scholar at SOAS.
Rafael, best known for the Iron Dome defence system, hailed Firefly’s “pinpoint strikes with minimal collateral damage” even under GPS jamming. The company reported $4.8 billion in 2024 sales, half to international buyers. Yet critics contend that packaging civilian killings as product demonstrations crosses an alarming moral line. Amnesty International and UN experts have repeatedly condemned similar tactics as part of a broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza enters its third year, the video underscores how modern warfare’s marketing strategies can blur the line between combat operations and propaganda. With more than 58,000 Palestinian deaths recorded, rights groups insist that celebrating real‑life strikes for promotional gain risks normalizing civilian casualties and undermining international humanitarian law.
