{{Short description|Arabic slang term}} {{For|the Persian language term for women's quarters in the Indian subcontinent|Zenana}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Italic title}} [[File:Hermes 450 Hermes 900 in formation.jpg|alt=Two drones viewed from below in a blue sky|thumb|Israeli Elbit Systems drones in flight at low altitude]] [[File:GhS0o4kXMAAq54t.jpg|thumb|Elbit Systems Hermes 450 High Sound Pressure Devices under the wings]]
[[File:PA9LCsUeNqOkM3SN.mp4 snapshot 00.00.541.jpg|thumb| Devices used on a IAI Heron]] '''''Zanana''''' ({{Langx|ar|زنانة|zanāna}}) is an Arabic slang term used by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The word means "buzzing sound" and it is used to refer to the noise produced by Israeli drones in the sky over Gaza, as well as to the drones themselves.
== Background == {{Further|Gaza Strip|Israeli-occupied territories}} The Gaza Strip was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, and placed under Israeli military administration. The 1993 Oslo Accords altered the deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza, with the new Palestinian Authority holding police power, but Israel retained control of the borders, major roads, and Israeli settlements and surrounding areas. The Second Intifada beginning in 2000 led to stricter Israeli restrictions on Palestinians in Gaza. In 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, evacuating settlers and army personnel. However, Israel subsequently continued to send its military into Gaza at its own discretion,{{Sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=15}} and retained practical control of Gaza's borders, airspace, and territorial waters.{{Sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Wilson|2011}} In 2007, following Hamas's election into power in Gaza, Israel imposed an indefinite blockade on Gaza, restricting the movement of people and goods including food supply and infrastructure.{{Sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=16}} {{Quote box | quote = "We're looking at how you control a city or a territory from the air when it's no longer legitimate to hold or occupy that territory on the ground." | author = Head of the Israeli Air Force in 2004{{Sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=21}} | width = 250px }} Israel is a leading manufacturer and exporter of drones, and uses drones extensively in its military operations.{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=11}} Israeli drones were first developed in the 1980s for surveillance purposes during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon.{{Sfn|Cook|2013}} Since 2000, Israeli drones have commonly been present in the sky over the Gaza Strip,{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}} where they were initially used for surveillance; missile strikes targeting people and infrastructure first occurred in 2004 and proliferated in 2006 after Israel's unilateral disengagement.{{Sfn|Cook|2013}} According to Israel Defense Forces data, drones flew 6,000 hours in Gaza airspace during the 11-day 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis; 4,000 flight hours per month is a typical statistic in Gaza.{{Sfn|AFP|2022}} In addition to surveilling and killing both militants and civilians,{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}} with a majority of those killed being civilians,{{Sfn|Cook|2013}} the drones produce a near-constant buzzing noise audible from the ground,{{Sfn|Cook|2013}}{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}} disrupt satellite television reception,{{sfn|Wilson|2011}}{{sfn|Hass|2010}} and create a psychological impact involving fear among the Palestinian population in Gaza.{{sfn|Wilson|2011}}{{Sfn|Cook|2013}}{{Sfn|AFP|2022}}{{Sfn|Goodfriend|2022}} Increases in volume generate fear of military escalation, and the consistent buzzing is disruptive to sleep.{{sfn|Shahwan|2023}}
== Meaning and use == {{Quote box | quote = "For us, drones mean death. When you hear drones, you hear death." | author = Hamdi Shaqqura, a deputy director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights{{sfn|Wilson|2011}} | width = 250px }} A rough literal translation of the Arabic word ''zanana'' (also transliterated ''zenana'') is "buzzing sound" or "noisemaker".{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}}{{sfn|Wilson|2011}} In Egypt, which borders Gaza and has influenced its culture, ''zenana'' is a slang term that refers to a nagging wife.{{sfn|Wilson|2011}} The term was adopted by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to refer to the buzzing noise produced by Israeli drones,{{Sfn|Cook|2013}}{{sfn|Stanley|2017|p=13}} which is audible from the ground and at times disrupts the sleep of people in Gaza.{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}} Through synecdoche, the term is also used to refer to the drones themselves.{{sfn|Abu Saif|2014|p=6}}{{sfn|Hass|2010}}{{Sfn|Goodfriend|2022}} It has also been used by Palestinians in Gaza to refer to internal informants who provide information to Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.{{sfn|Hass|2010}}
Residents of Gaza frequently complain about the ''zanana'' on social media, referring both to the sound produced by the drones and the presence of the drones themselves.{{sfn|Shahwan|2023}} It has also been mentioned in various works of literature by Palestinians in Gaza.{{Sfn|AFP|2022}}{{sfn|Shahwan|2023}}
== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}
=== Works cited === {{Refbegin}} * {{Cite report |url=https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/sonst_publikationen/Sleepless-in-Gaza-by-Atef-Abu-Saif-RLS-Palestine.pdf |title=Sleepless in Gaza: Israeli drone war on the Gaza Strip |last=Abu Saif |first=Atef |date=March 2014 |publisher=Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Regional Office Palestine |access-date=January 4, 2024}} * {{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Jonathan |date=November 28, 2013 |title=Gaza: Life and death under Israel's drones |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/11/28/gaza-life-and-death-under-israels-drones |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} * {{Cite web |last=Goodfriend |first=Sophie |date=2022-10-13 |title=Drones terrorized Gaza for years. Now they'll do the same in the West Bank |url=https://www.972mag.com/drones-idf-west-bank-gaza/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}} * {{Cite news |last=Hass |first=Amira |author-link=Amira Hass |date=August 2, 2010 |title=In Gaza, a Hamas Informer and a UAV Have Just One Name |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2010-08-02/ty-article/in-gaza-a-hamas-informer-and-a-uav-have-just-one-name/0000017f-db59-df62-a9ff-dfdfce040000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018162116/https://www.haaretz.com/2010-08-02/ty-article/in-gaza-a-hamas-informer-and-a-uav-have-just-one-name/0000017f-db59-df62-a9ff-dfdfce040000 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |access-date=2024-01-04 |work=Haaretz |language=en}} * {{Cite web |last=Shahwan |first=Maha |date=2023-06-01 |title=طائرة الزنانة.. غراب ينعق في سماء غزة طوال الوقت • نون بوست |trans-title=The zanana: a constant sound in the sky of Gaza |url=https://www.noonpost.com/47246/ |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=Noon Post |language=ar}} * {{Cite journal |last=Stanley |first=Bruce |date=2017 |title=The City-Logic of Resistance: Subverting Urbicide in the Middle East City |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48603189 |journal=Journal of Peacebuilding & Development |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=10–24 |doi=10.1080/15423166.2017.1348251 |jstor=48603189 |s2cid=158663697 |issn=1542-3166|url-access=subscription }} * {{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=December 3, 2011 |title=In Gaza, lives shaped by drones |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-gaza-lives-shaped-by-drones/2011/11/30/gIQAjaP6OO_story.html |access-date=January 4, 2024}} * {{Cite web |date=2022-10-01 |title=الزنان'" الإسرائيلية: تحليق مستمر وضجيج يؤرق سكان قطاع غزة' |trans-title=Israeli 'Zanana': Constant flying and noise haunting Gaza Strip residents |url=https://www.AFPssinfo.ch/ara/afp/-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A9--%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9--%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%82-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AC-%D9%8A%D8%A4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A9/47945688 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=France24 |publisher=Agence France-Presse |language=ar |ref={{harvid|AFP|2022}} }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{Refend}}
Category:Slang Category:Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip Category:Phrases related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Category:Culture of the Gaza Strip Category:Arabic words and phrases