https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/israel-smaller-weapons-hamas-avoid-deaths-gaza-tent-110686917
Defense experts who've reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians question why Israel didn't use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby.
Defense experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made.
The strikes, targeting Hamas operatives, killed as many as 45 people sheltering in a temporary displacement camp near the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday and have drawn international condemnation.
Israel is investigating the attack but says the Hamas targets were 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) away from a declared humanitarian zone and that its review before the strike determined no expected harm to civilians.
But displaced civilians were scattered throughout the area, and Israel had not ordered evacuations. So even if the tents that burned were not inside the marked humanitarian zone, the civilians there thought it was safe.
Israel, which was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, has not said where the burned tents were in relation to the compound it bombed on Sunday, but has released one satellite image showing there were some known civilian shelters located about 180 meters (600 feet) away. It emphasized that while there were no tents “in the immediate vicinity,” due to “unforeseen circumstances, a fire ignited tragically taking the lives of Gazan civilians nearby.”
Footage released by the Israeli military appears to show people walking next to the targeted buildings before the blast. The footage also appears to show tents nearby.
Israel has not identified the bombs it used, but Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, has emphasized that the country chose the smallest munition its jets could carry — with 17 kilograms (37 pounds) of explosive material each — and that an unintended secondary explosion may have caused the fire.
Even the smallest jet-launched munition may be too big when civilians are near because of how they explode and can send fragments far, defense experts said.
Images posted on social media from the tent camp on Monday and verified by The Associated Press showed a CAGE code, a unique identifier assigned to U.S. government suppliers, on pieces of the exploded weapons.
Based on those images and satellite photos of the debris field, two defense experts said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made 250-pound (113-kilogram) GBU-39 small-diameter bombs.
Defense experts who've reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians question why Israel didn't use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby.
Defense experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made.
The strikes, targeting Hamas operatives, killed as many as 45 people sheltering in a temporary displacement camp near the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday and have drawn international condemnation.
Israel is investigating the attack but says the Hamas targets were 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) away from a declared humanitarian zone and that its review before the strike determined no expected harm to civilians.
But displaced civilians were scattered throughout the area, and Israel had not ordered evacuations. So even if the tents that burned were not inside the marked humanitarian zone, the civilians there thought it was safe.
Israel, which was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, has not said where the burned tents were in relation to the compound it bombed on Sunday, but has released one satellite image showing there were some known civilian shelters located about 180 meters (600 feet) away. It emphasized that while there were no tents “in the immediate vicinity,” due to “unforeseen circumstances, a fire ignited tragically taking the lives of Gazan civilians nearby.”
Footage released by the Israeli military appears to show people walking next to the targeted buildings before the blast. The footage also appears to show tents nearby.
Israel has not identified the bombs it used, but Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, has emphasized that the country chose the smallest munition its jets could carry — with 17 kilograms (37 pounds) of explosive material each — and that an unintended secondary explosion may have caused the fire.
Even the smallest jet-launched munition may be too big when civilians are near because of how they explode and can send fragments far, defense experts said.
Images posted on social media from the tent camp on Monday and verified by The Associated Press showed a CAGE code, a unique identifier assigned to U.S. government suppliers, on pieces of the exploded weapons.
Based on those images and satellite photos of the debris field, two defense experts said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made 250-pound (113-kilogram) GBU-39 small-diameter bombs.
