Gaza emergency workers believe Israel is using new, more potent bombs

No.

15966

Date

21 March, 2025

Found by

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Location

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Original Social Media Post

"Eyewitnesses Say Israel Appears to Be Dropping New Types of Munitions on Gaza Based on testimonies from several emergency workers and civilians in Gaza, a spokesman for a Palestinian relief organization for displaced people in central Gaza says that the bombs being dropped since the ceasefire ended appear to be different from those used earlier in the war. He described the explosions as massive, with a “powerful shock wave” and tremors “resembling an earthquake.” The blast radius reportedly creates “enormous horizontal craters,” and shrapnel has been found on rooftops more than 500 meters away. Witnesses say these explosions occur directly on the surface with extreme intensity and that Israel is using these munitions in large residential areas, causing significant casualties. Eyewitnesses believe these bombs are new, as the scale of destruction and the number of casualties suggest an unusually high level of destructive power." - Source

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Archivist Notes On This Video

Weapons expert Trevor Ball posits that the testimony matches characteristics of MK 80 series bombs.

"This testimony just sounds like the standard MK-80 series (2,000, 1,000, and 500 pound) bombs are being used as none of these statements are inconsistent with how MK-80 bombs can be used. Multiple bombs when used in close proximity will not form circular craters but 'overlap'. [...] Shrapnel being found over 500 meters away is also not unusual for MK-80 series bombs. The 0.1% PI Risk Estimate Distance for a Mk-84 2,000 pound bomb is 500 meters, indicating that even at this range there is still a low chance of being incapacitated by shrapnel. [...] It's possible that Israel has used publicly unknown variants, as they designed their own MK-80 variant known as the MPR series, but they are still constrained by weight limits, and other limitations. This would mean that any 'new' bomb fitting the same form factor would have somewhat similar effects. Israel is probably just using multiple MK-80 bombs in the mentioned cases, and multiple bombs can be rapidly released at the same target, increasing the amount of damage caused.

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