An Israeli official admitted Thursday that the country’s army used improper munitions in an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp that killed at least 90 people earlier this week.
The official said the Israeli military would investigate what happened. But while little is known about the specific munitions used in Maghazi, this is far from the first time the Israeli military has faced criticism over the alleged or confirmed use of controversial weapons in his war against Gaza.
Israel said its goal was to “completely eliminate” Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on October 7, but the reality on the ground was the elimination of generations of Palestinians and their entire neighborhoods. The Israeli war has killed more than 21,300 Palestinians, including at least 8,200 children, in Gaza. Another 7,000 people are missing, likely buried under the rubble of more than 313,000 houses collapsed as a result of the Israeli war.
Tel Aviv Tribune examines some of the weapons that were used in Israel’s “indiscriminate” bombing of the Gaza Strip:
Stupid bombs
The term “dumb bombs” refers to munitions that are not guided, but are free to fall and destroy wherever they land.
Earlier this month, CNN reported that nearly half of Israeli munitions used on Gaza were “dumb bombs,” citing research by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Between 40 and 45 percent of the munitions Israel dropped on Gaza were unguided, but these munitions are less precise and carry a greater risk of causing civilian casualties.
Marc Garlasco, former war crimes investigator for the United Nations, called US intelligence assessment ‘shocking’
“The revelation that nearly half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided stupid bombs completely contradicts their claim to minimize harm to civilians,” Garlasco wrote on social media.
Other reports indicate that Israel has regularly used powerful bombs in the densely populated strip, despite the increased risk of civilian casualties.
Bunker bombs
Generously supplied to Israel for its war against Gaza by its friend the United States, BLU-109 bombs are designed to penetrate reinforced structures before exploding.
The bombs can carry a warhead weighing more than 900 kg (1,984 pounds) and have previously been used by the United States in conflicts, including the war in Afghanistan.
“Many people are now asking Congress whether continuing to distribute these ‘bunker bombs’ is a good idea and are also calling for more transparency,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Heidi Zhou-Castro.
This level of weaponry has been used by the United States before, but primarily in open areas. Doing so in a densely populated area can only lead to one thing: a high number of casualties.
American weapons supplied to Israel since the start of the war also include 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells (155 mm).
And that’s not all: 5,000 unguided MK-82 bombs, more than 5,400 MK-84 bombs and approximately 1,000 small diameter GBU-39 bombs.
JDAM
There are also about 3,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs — a guidance kit that uses GPS to turn unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, effectively making dumb bombs “smart.” However, their effectiveness depends on the quality of the information received.
“If the intelligence is wrong, even the most precise weapon will hit the wrong target,” Elijah Magnier, a military analyst covering conflicts in the Middle East, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
An Amnesty International investigation released Earlier this month, it was discovered that the Israeli military used American-made JDAMs to bomb two homes in Gaza in October, killing 43 members of two families.
In other cases, the functionality of the weapon is also crucial, as technical malfunctions can cause smart bombs to miss their targets, and human error during the targeting process can lead to misidentification of marks.
“In various conflicts, secondary strikes have been reported shortly after an initial strike, hitting rescue workers and civilians rushing to help the injured, significantly increasing the number of civilian casualties,” Magnier said.
Earlier in the war, Israel used smart bombs in Gaza as part of a broader military strategy “aimed at precisely targeting militant infrastructure to achieve military objectives,” Magnier said, but “without attempting to limit civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
“The effectiveness of these weapons in achieving strategic objectives without causing disproportionate damage is impossible,” Magnier added.
“The principle of distinction, the cornerstone of international (humanitarian) law, requires that the invading Israeli army always distinguish between combatants and military targets on the one hand, and civilians and civilian objects on the one hand. on the other hand, and that it only targets the former. »
White phosphorus
The use of this colorless chemical weapon is restricted by international humanitarian law, provided that it must never be fired at or in the immediate vicinity of a populated civilian area or civilian infrastructure.
However, evidence of its use by Israel in the war against Gaza was reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW) early in the conflict.
Highly combustible, it can cause rapid spread of fire and smoke.
“A white phosphorus explosion spreads the substance over a wide area, depending on the altitude of the explosion, and exposes more civilians and infrastructure than a localized explosion on the ground,” said Ahmed Benchemsi, director of communications from HRW’s Middle East and North Africa division, to Al. Jazeera.
Last month, a doctor at al-Shifa Hospital told the Toronto Star that he had seen patients with deep wounds, with “third and fourth degree burns, and the skin tissue is soaked with black particles and most of the thickness of the skin and all the layers below.” are burned to the bone.
Dr Ahmed Mokhallalati said these were not phosphorous burns, “but a combination of some sort of wave of incendiary bombs and other components”, fueling claims that Israel also uses the war to test unknown weapons.
But what makes white phosphorus even more dangerous, said Nada Majdalani, Palestinian director of EcoPeace Middle East based in Ramallah, is the presence of rain in the air.
“As Gaza enters the rainy season, we expect the rains to fall as acid rain, contaminated with white phosphorus,” Majdalani said. People who use plastic sheeting to collect rainwater and drink it directly, amid a shortage of drinking water, could be particularly at risk, she said.
Hunger
This month, HRW said in a statement that Israel was deliberately denying Palestinians access to food, water and other basic necessities.
Under international humanitarian law, intentionally creating a situation of famine against a civilian population constitutes a war crime.
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at HRW, said: “Israel has deprived the population of Gaza of food and water, a policy encouraged or approved by senior Israeli officials and which reflects an intention to starve civilians as a method of war.
“World leaders should denounce this heinous war crime, which is having devastating effects on the people of Gaza,” he added.
Just one month after the start of the war, all bakeries in northern Gaza closed due to lack of supplies such as flour and fuel, the UN reported on November 8.
By early February, if the war continues, Gaza could face famine, according to a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an organization that measures hunger risks.