Almost half of the air-to-ground weapons that Israel has used in Gaza in the war against Hamas have been free-fall weapons, or fired without a set target area. It emerges after a new assessment by American intelligence, and is reported CNN.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and three CNN sources who have seen the report, Israeli forces have reportedly used around 29,000 units of air-to-ground weapons since the war broke out on October 7. Here, a proportion of around 40-45 per cent must have been released without a target area, as free-fall bombs. The rest must have been precision-guided with hit targets, such as missiles.
Read more about the war between Israel and Hamas here!
According to figures from Palestinian health authorities, around 18,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October. In addition, over 50,000 are injured.
As rockets and similar air-to-ground weapons are less accurate than missiles, this poses a greater danger to the dense population of Gaza. That explains Marc Garlasco, a former UN military analyst and chief of high-value targeting at the Pentagon’s Joint Staff in 2003.
The article continues below the advertisementThe article continues below the advertisement
See also: In the throat of the journalist: – You don’t know the facts!
Surprised and worried
Brian Castner, senior crisis adviser for arms and military operations at Amnesty International, tells CNN that he is “extremely surprised and concerned” by the findings.
– It is bad enough to use weapons with accurate accuracy. There is a massive civilian damage problem if (the weapons) do not have that accuracy, also if you cannot even give the benefit of the doubt that what is fired actually lands where the Israeli forces aimed, he says.
The article continues below the advertisementThe article continues below the advertisement
Keren Hajioff, a major and Israeli spokesperson, said on Wednesday that Israel and the military are doing what they can to protect civilians to the greatest extent possible.
– As a military committed to international law and ethical guidelines, we use enormous resources to minimize harm to civilians, whom Hamas has forced into the role of human shields. Our war is against Hamas, not the people of Gaza, says Hajioff.
The article continues below the ad
Nir Dinar, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), did not want to comment to CNN about what kind of weapons are being used.
December 14: New Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, here on the southern town of Rafah. Photo: Hatem Ali / AP
Not precise enough
An American official claims to CNN that the USA believes that the Israeli military uses the free-fall bombs with a tactic that makes the drops more precise on the target, and that this can thus resemble a targeted missile attack.
Marc Garlasco nevertheless believes that Israel should rather resort to the most precise weapons possible in the war against Hamas, in such a densely populated area as Gaza.
Now on Thursday, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan is traveling to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss with Israeli officials more “surgical and precise” strikes to reduce civilian casualties. John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, tells us.
The article continues below the ad
(The article continues below the picture)
In the war against Hamas, free-fall bombs or similar air-to-ground weapons are not considerate enough for the dense population of Gaza, which is put in extra great danger. That’s according to Marc Garlasco, former head of high-value targeting at the Pentagon. Photo: Sebastian Scheiner / AP Photo
Under press
US support for Israel is under pressure. The US is considered Israel’s closest ally and biggest military supporter. On Tuesday, however, Biden said that Israel is losing international support by engaging in “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.
The United States itself was the only country in the UN Security Council that last Friday voted against an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, thereby vetoing it.
When the UN General Assembly voted on Tuesday, the demand was adopted by a substantial majority.
2023-12-14 20:00:15
#findings #Israels #warfare
