Israeli forces dropped eight tons of bombs on an area Israel labeled as a “humanitarian safe zone” in Gaza on Saturday, wielding explosives built to maximize destruction on an area sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been forced to flee Israel’s genocidal campaign again and again.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Israeli military dropped eight 2,000-pound bombs during its attack on Al-Mawasi on Saturday, striking civilian areas including a market, a soup kitchen and a water source. These bombs have the power to level entire neighborhoods or strike deeply into concrete bunkers, and humanitarian groups have said that using even one of these 2,000-pound (or smaller) bombs in civilian areas is a war crime.
The Israeli military killed 90 people and injured at least 300 others in the attack, according to Palestinian health officials. This is the deadliest of several attacks in recent days as Israel has escalated its bombings in central and southern Gaza — despite dubious reports by Israeli officials that they are supposedly entering a less deadly phase of their genocide.
At least one of the munitions used in the attack was a U.S.-made bomb, according to a CNN analysis. A bomb expert who analyzed footage of the aftermath of the attack for CNN identified a tail fin from a Boeing-made JDAM — bomb kits that convert unguided bombs into “smart,” precision-guided munitions.
In May, President Joe Biden paused one shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over supposed concerns regarding Israel’s Rafah invasion. But at that point, the Biden administration had already sent at least 14,000 2,000-pound bombs to Israel just since October — enough for Israel to drop about 50 2,000-pound bombs on Palestinians a day.
In fact, the U.S. has provided Israel with thousands of JDAMs and 2,000-pound bombs since October, and has sent tens of thousands of these weapons to Israel over decades of Israel’s occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. It’s recently been reported that the U.S. is releasing a shipment of 1,700 500-pound bombs that were held up along with the 2,000-pound bomb shipment — bombs with just as much destructive power, but in a slightly smaller radius.
The U.S. has rushed so quickly to send Israel bombs that the Pentagon ran out of planes to carry the bombs over at one point.
Israel’s extensive use of 2,000-pound bombs on Al-Mawasi on Saturday, which came more than two months since the last shipment of such bombs was paused, is a show that Israeli forces have no shortage of 2,000-pound bombs. Israeli officials have said that they have enough weapons to finish their objectives in Gaza, regardless of the U.S.’s singular pause.
Palestinians who survived the massacre described it as horrifying, saying they witnessed dismembered limbs strewn around and children’s bodies ripped apart as a result of the bombing.
Israeli officials had ordered over a million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah to evacuate to the desert area of Al-Mawasi and Khan Yunis, which Israeli forces have largely destroyed, as they began their invasion of Rafah in May. Since then, Israel has attacked the “safe zones” multiple times. In essence, Israel has deliberately trapped the majority of Gaza’s population into a small area and is now using its most destructive bombs there.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military once again bombed Al-Mawasi, killing at least 17 Palestinians, officials have reported.
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