On March 27, Israel carried out a missile strike in the Southern Lebanese town of Hebbariyeh, hitting an ambulance center.
An analysis of shrapnel from the scene of an Israeli attack that killed seven health workers in southern Lebanon this March, concludes the weapons used were American.
The conclusion of The Guardian’s investigation poses questions about the possible legal repercussions for the US government in its continuation of arms supplies to Israel.
On March 27, Israel carried out a missile strike in the Southern Lebanese town of Hebbariyeh, hitting an ambulance center owned by the ‘Lebanese Succor Association’.
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The strike resulted in the murder of seven volunteer paramedics, all between the ages of 18 and 25. At the time, the Israeli military claimed that their strike, which killed solely medical workers, had actually killed a leading “terrorist” from the Jamaa Islamiya movement, but failed to provide any proof for this claim.
According to The Guardian analysis of the shrapnel left behind from the 500 pound bomb that was dropped on the ambulance center, during the early hours of the morning, was an Israeli MPR bomb that was equipped with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) package.
The JDAM guidance kits are produced by the weapons company Boeing and turn “dumb bombs” into precision guided missiles that are equipped with GPS.
This not only means that the US supplied the weapon which was used in this attack, but also that the Israeli military fired it with full knowledge of the location it hit. The munition completely collapsed the two story building that it hit.
The information presented by The Guardian was verified by an independent weapons expert and Human Rights Watch (HRW), the leading human rights group that also conducted its own investigation into the incident and concluded the strike was unlawful and should carry great implications on US military support for the Israelis.
As for the allegation that Israel killed a “terrorist” in its strike, they refused to reply to The Guardian’s inquiries about the Jamaa Islamiya movement and who they claim to have killed.
Jamaa Islamiya is a Lebanese Sunni resistance group that announced its arms wing would be participating in striking Israel, following the start of the genocide in Gaza and has close ties with Hezbollah.
While this revelation, regarding the specifics of this Israeli attack on a Lebanese civilian target, poses greater questions as to how the US can continue to get away with supplying the Israeli military with the latest in military equipment, the issue is much deeper.
Israel also murder seven foreign aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza, one of them a US citizen, an incident that did not even draw an outright condemnation from Washington; which went ahead with approving a 26 billion dollar aid package (much of it military aid) to Israel, shortly after.
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While it has been clear that Israel has used US technology and weapons to carry out its mass murder of over 40,000 Palestinians [when including those missing under the rubble] in the Gaza Strip, it has also repeatedly carried out heinous war crimes in Lebanon since the beginning of the war in October of last year.
The only difference between Lebanon and Gaza here, in terms of evidence, is that Lebanese territory is open for international inspectors and foreign media to come in and collect the evidence, whereas the Israelis have managed to keep Gaza Strip sealed off from the outside world to a large extent and hence made it difficult to safely assess the scenes of civilian massacres.
An investigation conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), was revealed in December to have concluded that an October 13 strike carried out against a group of “clearly identifiable” journalists in Southern Lebanon, was in fact carried out by Israel. The report’s conclusions were published by Reuters, which confirmed that the Israelis had fired two 120mm rounds directly at the group of journalists.
The journalist killed in this instance was 37-year-old Issam Abdallah, who was working for Reuters, despite Issam being their employee, their initial report released on the incident stated that munitions fired “from the direction of Israel” had killed their videographer. Reuters had initially refrained from reporting that Israel even carried out the attack.
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On November 21, an Israeli airstrike also murdered a group of journalists who were working in the town of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon. Included in those killed were Al-Mayadeen’s 24-year-old correspondent, Farah Omar, alongside cameraman Rabih Me’mari.
This incident and the other noted above, represent clear cut cases of attacks on journalists, while The Guardian’s investigation revealed the precise nature of Israel’s targeting of medical workers.
While Israel has murdered around 100 civilians in Lebanon since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7, the above noted cases represent clear war crimes and should contribute towards pressure being exerted on the US authorities to end weapon sales to Israel.
HRW’s Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss, says that “Israel’s assurances that it is using US weapons lawfully are not credible. As Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Lebanon continues to violate international law, the Biden administration should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel”.
However, it is doubtful that US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will even include The Guardian’s findings in his May 8 report that he will present before congress on whether Israel’s assurances that they are using US weapons within the confines of the law.
If Blinken argues that Israel is presenting convincing assurances to the US on the legal usage of its weaponry, then this would fly in the face of a USAID memo that US officials have claimed says Israel is violating international law.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
If you give a gun to a terrorist, you’re a terrorist.