Direct proof of use
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry documented Hamas militants throwing grenades into public shelters during the October 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel. Its detailed findings describe grenade attacks at shelters near Re'im, Alumim, Be'eri, and Zikim, including survivor accounts that identified fragmentation, stun, or shock grenades in some incidents.
Human Rights Watch separately reported that Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups hurled grenades and fired into safe rooms and other shelters during the October 7 assault. Those findings support hand-grenade use as a close-range assault weapon, while AP and Defense One reported a separate drone-delivered pattern in which Hamas used commercial drones to drop grenades or similar small munitions on border-defense equipment, vehicles, posts, and troops.
Sources: UN Commission October 7 Findings, Human Rights Watch October 7 Report, AP Hamas border breach, Defense One Gaza Drone War
Timeline
On October 7, 2023, hand grenades appeared in two distinct forms. The first was direct throwing into shelters and houses during attacks on civilians in southern Israel. The second was aerial release from small commercial drones during the opening breach and assault, including attacks on cameras and communications gear along Israel's Gaza border.
Later in the war, +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that Israeli soldiers in Gaza used Autel EVO commercial drones with an iron-ball attachment that could carry and release a hand grenade. The investigation described reported use in Rafah, Nuseirat, Khan Younis, and the Netzarim Corridor, and cited soldier interviews, battalion reports, witness accounts, and imagery.
Sources: UN Commission October 7 Findings, AP Hamas border breach, AP Hamas arsenal analysis, +972 Magazine grenade-firing drones in Gaza
Operational role
For Hamas and other Gaza-based armed groups, the documented hand-grenade role was close assault in confined civilian shelters and support to the October 7 breach operation. UN and Human Rights Watch reporting places thrown grenades alongside small-arms fire and, in some incidents, rocket-propelled grenades; AP and Defense One place drone-dropped grenades or explosive payloads in the early effort to disrupt Israeli border surveillance and attack nearby targets.
For Israel, the public record is narrower and later. +972 Magazine and Local Call reported Israeli ground-force use of commercial drones adapted to drop hand grenades in Gaza. The report described the weaponization path as a conversion from reconnaissance drones to grenade-drop platforms after units received release devices, rather than a separate standardized hand-grenade model.
The sources do not identify a single national grenade type for the broader hand-grenade category. Where model-level or effect-level evidence is stronger, the catalog keeps separate pages for fragmentation hand grenades and drone-dropped fragmentation grenades.
Sources: UN Commission October 7 Findings, Human Rights Watch October 7 Report, AP Hamas border breach, Defense One Gaza Drone War, +972 Magazine grenade-firing drones in Gaza
