Israel used at least two bombs weighing 2,000 pounds (approx. 907 kilos) in an airstrike on Tuesday on the densely-populated refugee camp of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, the New York Times revealed on Saturday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Israeli forces bombed a residential neighborhood adjacent to the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians.
According to the analysis conducted by The New York Times,
“Two impact craters are about 40 feet wide — dimensions consistent with underground explosions that this type of weapon would produce in light, sandy soil, according to a 2016 technical study by Armament Research Services, a munitions research consultancy.”
“The evidence and analysis show that the Israeli military dropped at least two 2,000-pound bombs on the site,” the report continued.
The NYT also noted that “Israel’s use of such bombs, the second largest type in its arsenal, is not uncommon, and the size is generally the largest that most militaries use on a regular basis.”
🔴 GAZA INTERIOR MINISTRY: Jabalyia camp was bombed with 6 bombs, each weighing a ton of explosives. The initial number of victims of the Jabalia camp massacre is estimated at 400, including martyrs and wounded.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 31, 2023
Their use, however, should be limited to targeting underground infrastructures, while “their deployment in a dense and heavily populated area like Jabaliya has raised questions of proportionality”.
According to Marc Garlasco, one of the study’s authors, the bombs might have had a “delay fuse, which delays detonation until milliseconds after penetration of the surface or a building so that the explosion’s destructive power reaches more deeply.”
“Mr. Garlasco, who works as a military adviser for the Dutch organization PAX, said it was unclear from visuals alone whether the bombs were equipped with bunker-busting warheads, which are designed to pierce through reinforced military structures,” the report added.
🚨⚠️ GRAPHIC IMAGE
AL-JAZEERA: The Israeli army bombed Al Fakhoura School, which houses thousands of displaced people in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 4, 2023
Israel has, thus far, killed over 9,488 Palestinians in Gaza, including nearly 3,900 children and 2,500 women, and wounded more than 24,000. Palestinian Ministry of Health reports and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Despite a massive Israeli military buildup around the Gaza borders and sporadic infiltrations on the outskirts of the besieged Strip, Palestinian Resistance continues to repel Israeli attacks.
To justify its military failure, the Israeli army continues to pound civilian homes throughout the Gaza Strip with new massacres reported everywhere in the besieged enclave.
Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
