“DUMB BOMBS”
As much as 45 per cent of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions that Israel has dropped on Gaza since Oct 7 have been unguided “dumb bombs” in line with a US intelligence evaluation reported by CNN.
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a member of Israel’s safety cupboard and Netanyahu’s Likud occasion, rejected Biden’s characterisation of Israel’s strikes as indiscriminate.
“There is no such thing as a such factor as ‘dumb bombs’. Some bombs are extra correct, some bombs are much less correct. What we’ve got is generally pilots who’re exact,” he instructed Military Radio, saying that solely militants have been focused.
Israel launched its marketing campaign in retaliation for a rampage by Hamas, the Iran-backed group that guidelines Gaza, whose fighters killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 240 hostages in a cross-border raid on Oct 7.
Since then, Israeli forces have besieged the coastal strip and laid a lot of it to waste, with almost 19,000 folks confirmed lifeless, in line with Palestinian well being officers, and 1000’s extra feared buried below the rubble.
Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been compelled from their properties, many a number of instances.
The UN Palestinian refugee company mentioned hungry folks have been stopping vehicles and consuming meals help instantly. “We meet an increasing number of individuals who have not eaten for one, two or three days,” Philippe Lazzarini instructed reporters in Geneva.
Israel has prolonged its floor marketing campaign from the north to the south this month. It says it’s providing warnings the place it may earlier than hanging an space.
In the primary southern metropolis Khan Younis, the place advancing Israeli forces reached the centre this week, a complete metropolis block had been bombed in a single day to mud. Although most individuals had fled after Israeli warnings, neighbours digging with a hand shovel believed 4 folks have been inside. One physique had been recovered.
“Could God take revenge on them,” mentioned Nesmah al-Byouk, returning to the ruins of the house she had fled three days in the past. “We got here and noticed every part destroyed, the home, the manufacturing unit, our neighbours and home are all gone. The place we will we go to now?”