a day ago
Experts identify 230kg bomb used in deadly Gaza cafe strike
According to reports from the Guardian, shrapnel recovered from the strike has revealed the weight and scale of the explosive, which killed around 30 Palestinians when it was dropped on Al-Baqa cafe on Monday.
International law experts have said the use of such powerful munitions in a civilian area was likely unlawful and could constitute a war crime.
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Ordnance experts analysed fragments of the explosive through photographs of the cafe ruins and found them to be remainders of an MK-82 general purpose 230kg bomb, a US-made device that has been commonplace in bombing campaigns in recent years.
Trevor Ball, a weapons researcher and former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, identified a Jdam tail section and thermal battery suggesting either an MPR500 or an MK-82 bomb was dropped, an assessment echoed by another expert with extensive experience in recent conflicts, while a third said they could not make a reliable assessment from the pictures presented by the Guardian.
The experts also said the crater left in the area was further indication of a large and powerful explosive being used.
Victims from the explosion include a number of women and children, a journalist, an artist and a filmmaker.
Inside the destroyed eatery, which was once a popular recreational spot for young people and families in Gaza City (Image: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Under international law, military forces are forbidden to carry out attacks that cause 'incidental loss of civilian life' that is 'excessive or disproportionate' to any potential advantages to be gained.
Gerry Simpson, of Human Rights Watch, said: 'The Israeli military hasn't said exactly whom it was targeting but it said it used aerial surveillance to minimise civilian casualties, which means it knew the cafe was teeming with customers at the time.
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'The military would also have known that using a large guided air-dropped bomb would kill and maim many of the civilians there.
'The use of such a large weapon in an obviously crowded cafe risks that this was an unlawful disproportionate or indiscriminate attack and should be investigated as a war crime.'
Al-Baqa cafe, founded over 40 years ago, was a two-storey building in Gaza City with an open upper deck and a lower floor that had views of the beach through its wide windows.
The port area where Al-Baqa cafe was located was not covered by any evacuation orders issued by the IDF to warn of impending military operations.
