Cluster bombs, Depleted Uranium and White Phosphorus being used in Gaza

The US used all these weapons against civilians in Fallujah so don't expect a UN Resolution to save the Gazans since the US will block it. There is one weapon that wasn't mentioned in the article which is now a standard part of the US and UK arsenal that the Russians deployed in Chechnya, thermobaric weapons. Thermobarics simultaneously incinerate, suffocate and explode from the inside and are commonly used to 'clear rooms' of life. It is simple technology so the Israelis are likely to have it even if they haven't deployed it yet. I am not sure if the weapon of murder is more important than the amount of murders, though I personally would prefer a bullet to the head.

Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells

'As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.'

(FAIR USE !)

I have just emailed Press TV for a full transcript. If they are quoting this interview ( http://mosquito-blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/reality-in-gaza-dr-mads-gilbert-of.html) or same Norwegian doctor then i think there may have been a misunderstanding. In it the doctor claims that the Israelis are using DIME weapons (Dense Inert Metal Explosives that use powdered tungsten not uranium) this is in all likelihood true as they have been used in Gaza before but he then goes on to state that these are radioactive. Tungsten is not radioactive.

Ironically DIME weapons are designed to be used in civilian areas and have a polymer warhead to reduce shrapnel injuries from blasts. However the powdered tungsten that they use produces are very fierce blast, albeit in a smaller area. They have been responsible for some novel injuries in the region.

The other weapon that people are claiming is DU is the GBU-39. This is a small bunker busting bomb. However we still haven't seen any compelling evidence that this munition contains DU. Although it has been fitted with a tungsten DIME warhead.

We are very concerned about possible Israeli use of DU in Gaza and will post up all information as we get it on www.bandepleteduranium.org

Best

Doug

Press TV: What can you tell about the uranium findings?

Dr. Mads Gilbert:The findings about the uranium I cannot tell you much about, but I can tell you that we have clear evidence that the Israelis are using a new type of very high explosive weapons which are called Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) and are made out of a tungsten alloy.

These weapons have an enormous power to explode.

The power of the explosion dissipates very quickly and the strength does not travel long, maybe 10 meters, but those humans who are hit by this explosion, this pressure wave are cut in pieces.

 http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=80685&sectionid=3510302

Doug, there is more than one Norwegian doctor in Gaza. The interview I saw was with Erik Fosse from NORWAC, the Norwegian Aid Committee. Here is their contact details if you want to ask them directly about the reported radioactivity rather than going through an Iranian journalist:
 http://www.norwac.no/board.html

The DIME shell alloys aren't radioactive but they are carcinogenic so is their only advantage over DU the fact that they disperse quickly, ie that they are a threat only to the population being fired at rather than to the population doing the firing? Does your group also oppose the legality of DIME weaponary or do you see it as preferable to DU? Isn't DU also a short-blast shell due to it being pyrophoric?

Israel has denied possessing DIME weaponary in the past, and have refused to ban DU shells, while possessing stocks of US made DU shells. Could the 'novel injuries' seen in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon be attributable to DIME? Could they in fact be a new, unpublished munition?

Does your group do your own testing or do you send samples to third-party labs?

>>Erik Fosse from NORWAC

Cheers for the heads up, will try and get in touch. To be honest we were sceptical for two reasons, first it is unlikely that they would have the equipment there to assess whether a patient was contaminated and second it is hard to tell the difference between tungsten and uranium when you are dealing with very finely powdered micro-shrapnel. Finally testing is unlikely to be a particularly high priority when in triage.

>>The DIME shell alloys aren't radioactive but they are carcinogenic so is their only advantage over DU the fact that they disperse quickly, ie that they are a threat only to the population being fired at rather than to the population doing the firing?

I think you are getting ahead of yourself, the chief reason for using tungsten alloys is that not only are they less chemically active than other heavy metals - such as uranium - they are also very dense. This means that they can transfer a powerful blast shock over a small area, this was the thinking behind focused lethality munitions.

>>Does your group also oppose the legality of DIME weaponary or do you see it as preferable to DU?

DIME is pretty new and us and many other disarmament NGOs are jogging to keep up. As far as I know the ICRC are yet to make a statement on it. It would seem that the Israelis have beaten the US in developing it and so far the only clear uses are in Lebanon and Gaza. ICBUW opposes violence full stop. From what we have seen of DIME thus far, while it has been intended to be less indiscriminate than standard munitions, it is clearly more inhumane. Furthermore, releasing finely powdered tungsten may well prove to represent a threat to human health beyond the cessation of hostilities.

>>Isn't DU also a short-blast shell due to it being pyrophoric?

DU is used in KE shells because of its density and pyrophoricity, we have no evidence of it being used in focused lethality munitions such as DIME.

>>Israel has denied possessing DIME weaponary in the past, and have refused to ban DU shells, while possessing stocks of US made DU shells. Could the 'novel injuries' seen in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon be attributable to DIME? Could they in fact be a new, unpublished munition?

Israel was first accused of using DIME in Lebanon in 2006 - because of these hideous injuries - an intense blast with no shrapnel.

>>Does your group do your own testing or do you send samples to third-party labs?

Funding currently precludes both options I'm afraid.

Doug, you may be interested that Reuters has just reported 10 civilians killed by shrapnel from a tank shell fired near a UN school. If that report is correct then from what you say it indicates that it wasn't a DIME shell. The report isn't on the internet yet, I am just letting you know to watch out for it.

Am I correct that DU shells don't produce shrapnel either?

GAZA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Israeli tank fire killed at least 10 Palestinians near a U.N.-run school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, witnesses and medical officials said.

Two tank shells exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians at another school administered by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip.

Hiya, as far as we can tell, DIME weapons are delivered by air (drones and helicopters) presumably a small missile of guided bomb. As was the case with Iraq and elsewhere and contrary to the claims of Israel, the vast majority of weapons being used in Gaza will be of the dumb and explosive variety. Hence these deaths from standard high explosive tank rounds and particularly dumb artillery shells (I can't believe they are firing artillery into a built-up civilian area). DIME weapons and other hi-tech stuff will be in the minority.

DU weapons are solid darts of uranium, they produce some shrapnel but this is mainly in the form of ricochets as they do not explode out of a metallic casing like bombs do. It is unlikely that Israel will be using DU tank rounds as Hamas do not have armoured vehicles, furthermore the vast majority of Israel's KE rounds are made of tungsten not DU. Instead Israel will be using high explosive rounds and flechette rounds.

You are right, later reports indicate the second UN School was shelled by conventional artillery. I guess with the borders closed to reporters, the university bombed and the doctors working without rest or equipment there will be no definitive analysis of the munitions used until long after.