 "Israel used a 230 kg US-made bomb to target Gaza cafe, experts call it 'war crime'")
As the war in Gaza intensifies, an explosive report has revealed that the Israeli military used a 500lb (230kg) bomb when it attacked a crowded beachfront cafe in Gaza on Monday, raising concerns over the humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave. The bomb is known to generate a massive blast wave and scatter shrapnel over a wide area, and is used on military targets and not civilian areas.
Experts in international law said the use of such a munition against a known presence of many unprotected civilians, including children, women and elderly people, was almost certainly unlawful and may constitute a war crime . Fragments of the weapons emerging from the ruins of the Al-Baqa cafe, photographed by The Guardian, have been identified as an MK-82 general-purpose 230kg bomb.
The weapon has been a US-made staple, which was used in many bombing campaigns in recent decades. Meanwhile, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson said that the attack on the cafe was under review and that “before the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians using aerial surveillance”.
Around 24 Palestinians were killed in the strike
Medical officials in Gaza said that between 24 and 36 Palestinians were killed in the attack on the cafe, and dozens more were injured. It is pertinent to note that the dead included a well-known filmmaker and an artist, a 35-year-old housewife and a four-year-old child. Among the wounded were a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl.
According to the International Humanitarian Law, which is based on the Geneva Conventions , a military force is forbidden to launch attacks that cause “incidental loss of civilian life” that is “excessive or disproportionate” to the military advantage to be gained.
Experts argue that only a target whose elimination might have a very significant impact on the course of a conflict could justify the death of dozens of civilians. The cafe, which was attacked by the Israeli military, had two stories - an open upper deck and a lower floor with wide windows onto the beach and sea – and approaches that were visible from above.
“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," Garry Simpson of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“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 a crowded cafe risks that this was an unlawful, disproportionate or indiscriminate attack and should be investigated as a war crime," he added.
The family-run al-Baqa cafe was founded 40 years ago and was well known as a recreation spot for young people and families in Gaza City. It is important to note that the port area where the cafe was located was not covered by any of the evacuation orders issued by the IDF to warn of impending military operations.
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