SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
People gather around a crater among destroyed buildings in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombing in the southern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2023.
(Photo: Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli Use of 'Dumb Bombs' Further Proof of War Crimes, Experts Say
"The revelation almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimizing civilian harm," said a former U.N. war crimes investigator.
Dec 14, 2023
A U.S. intelligence assessment reported Wednesday by CNN indicates that nearly half of the tens of thousands of air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in the Gaza Strip since early October have been so-called "dumb bombs," unguided munitions whose use in densely populated civilian areas could be a war crime.
The assessment was conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and described to CNN by three anonymous sources who told the outlet that somewhere between 40-45% of the munitions Israel has dropped on Gaza have been unguided.
Israel's frequent use of "dumb bombs" in Gaza further refutes the Netanyahu government's claim that it is waging war on Hamas and not the entire population of Gaza.
Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law, noted on social media that "the use of inaccurate weapons, with a large destructive radius, in populated areas, may constitute an indiscriminate attack under [international humanitarian law], and the war crime of attacking civilians under the [International Criminal Court] Statute."
"Alternatively, the use of such weapons could constitute a disproportionate attack, since inaccuracy increases the harm to civilians which may be expected, while reducing the military advantage anticipated," Haque added. "This could also constitute a war crime under the ICC Statute."
The details of the U.S. intelligence assessment were leaked to CNN after President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday that Israel has engaged in "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza. A day later, Biden administration officials clarified that the president's remarks did not signal a U.S. policy shift away from unconditional support for Israel, which has admitted to killing two Gaza civilians for every Hamas militant—an estimate that one human rights monitor said is a gross understatement.
Marc Garlasco, a former war crimes investigator for the United Nations, called the U.S. intelligence assessment "shocking."
"The revelation almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimizing civilian harm," Garlasco wrote on social media.
@CNN reports 29,000 bombs dropped on Gaza. This is nearly the same number dropped on all of Iraq by the US in 2003. @POTUS called these airstrikes “indiscriminate” for a reason.
— Marc Garlasco (@marcgarlasco) December 14, 2023
The U.S. has supplied Israel with both unguided bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), which are designed to turn "dumb bombs" into GPS-guided weapons. An Amnesty International investigation released last week found that the Israeli military used American-made JDAMs to bomb two homes in Gaza in October, killing 43 members of two families.
During the first month and a half of Israel's assault on Gaza, Israel dropped more than 22,000 U.S.-supplied bombs on Gaza, according to The Washington Post.
Reuters reported Thursday that as U.S. officials asked their Israeli counterparts to protect civilians in the strip—requests that have thus far been ignored—"Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing families in their homes."
"In Rafah, jammed with people in makeshift tents on Gaza's southern edge, people wept at a morgue where bodies of those killed in the latest overnight air strikes were wrapped in bloodied shrouds. Some were small children," the outlet continued. "The adjacent homes of the Abu Dhbaa and Ashour families had been obliterated by a massive airstrike, and residents were picking forlornly through rubble. Gaza health authorities said 26 people had been killed there."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A U.S. intelligence assessment reported Wednesday by CNN indicates that nearly half of the tens of thousands of air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in the Gaza Strip since early October have been so-called "dumb bombs," unguided munitions whose use in densely populated civilian areas could be a war crime.
The assessment was conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and described to CNN by three anonymous sources who told the outlet that somewhere between 40-45% of the munitions Israel has dropped on Gaza have been unguided.
Israel's frequent use of "dumb bombs" in Gaza further refutes the Netanyahu government's claim that it is waging war on Hamas and not the entire population of Gaza.
Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law, noted on social media that "the use of inaccurate weapons, with a large destructive radius, in populated areas, may constitute an indiscriminate attack under [international humanitarian law], and the war crime of attacking civilians under the [International Criminal Court] Statute."
"Alternatively, the use of such weapons could constitute a disproportionate attack, since inaccuracy increases the harm to civilians which may be expected, while reducing the military advantage anticipated," Haque added. "This could also constitute a war crime under the ICC Statute."
The details of the U.S. intelligence assessment were leaked to CNN after President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday that Israel has engaged in "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza. A day later, Biden administration officials clarified that the president's remarks did not signal a U.S. policy shift away from unconditional support for Israel, which has admitted to killing two Gaza civilians for every Hamas militant—an estimate that one human rights monitor said is a gross understatement.
Marc Garlasco, a former war crimes investigator for the United Nations, called the U.S. intelligence assessment "shocking."
"The revelation almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimizing civilian harm," Garlasco wrote on social media.
@CNN reports 29,000 bombs dropped on Gaza. This is nearly the same number dropped on all of Iraq by the US in 2003. @POTUS called these airstrikes “indiscriminate” for a reason.
— Marc Garlasco (@marcgarlasco) December 14, 2023
The U.S. has supplied Israel with both unguided bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), which are designed to turn "dumb bombs" into GPS-guided weapons. An Amnesty International investigation released last week found that the Israeli military used American-made JDAMs to bomb two homes in Gaza in October, killing 43 members of two families.
During the first month and a half of Israel's assault on Gaza, Israel dropped more than 22,000 U.S.-supplied bombs on Gaza, according to The Washington Post.
Reuters reported Thursday that as U.S. officials asked their Israeli counterparts to protect civilians in the strip—requests that have thus far been ignored—"Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing families in their homes."
"In Rafah, jammed with people in makeshift tents on Gaza's southern edge, people wept at a morgue where bodies of those killed in the latest overnight air strikes were wrapped in bloodied shrouds. Some were small children," the outlet continued. "The adjacent homes of the Abu Dhbaa and Ashour families had been obliterated by a massive airstrike, and residents were picking forlornly through rubble. Gaza health authorities said 26 people had been killed there."
A U.S. intelligence assessment reported Wednesday by CNN indicates that nearly half of the tens of thousands of air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in the Gaza Strip since early October have been so-called "dumb bombs," unguided munitions whose use in densely populated civilian areas could be a war crime.
The assessment was conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and described to CNN by three anonymous sources who told the outlet that somewhere between 40-45% of the munitions Israel has dropped on Gaza have been unguided.
Israel's frequent use of "dumb bombs" in Gaza further refutes the Netanyahu government's claim that it is waging war on Hamas and not the entire population of Gaza.
Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law, noted on social media that "the use of inaccurate weapons, with a large destructive radius, in populated areas, may constitute an indiscriminate attack under [international humanitarian law], and the war crime of attacking civilians under the [International Criminal Court] Statute."
"Alternatively, the use of such weapons could constitute a disproportionate attack, since inaccuracy increases the harm to civilians which may be expected, while reducing the military advantage anticipated," Haque added. "This could also constitute a war crime under the ICC Statute."
The details of the U.S. intelligence assessment were leaked to CNN after President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday that Israel has engaged in "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza. A day later, Biden administration officials clarified that the president's remarks did not signal a U.S. policy shift away from unconditional support for Israel, which has admitted to killing two Gaza civilians for every Hamas militant—an estimate that one human rights monitor said is a gross understatement.
Marc Garlasco, a former war crimes investigator for the United Nations, called the U.S. intelligence assessment "shocking."
"The revelation almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimizing civilian harm," Garlasco wrote on social media.
@CNN reports 29,000 bombs dropped on Gaza. This is nearly the same number dropped on all of Iraq by the US in 2003. @POTUS called these airstrikes “indiscriminate” for a reason.
— Marc Garlasco (@marcgarlasco) December 14, 2023
The U.S. has supplied Israel with both unguided bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), which are designed to turn "dumb bombs" into GPS-guided weapons. An Amnesty International investigation released last week found that the Israeli military used American-made JDAMs to bomb two homes in Gaza in October, killing 43 members of two families.
During the first month and a half of Israel's assault on Gaza, Israel dropped more than 22,000 U.S.-supplied bombs on Gaza, according to The Washington Post.
Reuters reported Thursday that as U.S. officials asked their Israeli counterparts to protect civilians in the strip—requests that have thus far been ignored—"Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing families in their homes."
"In Rafah, jammed with people in makeshift tents on Gaza's southern edge, people wept at a morgue where bodies of those killed in the latest overnight air strikes were wrapped in bloodied shrouds. Some were small children," the outlet continued. "The adjacent homes of the Abu Dhbaa and Ashour families had been obliterated by a massive airstrike, and residents were picking forlornly through rubble. Gaza health authorities said 26 people had been killed there."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.