Israel is using shrapnel bombs in Gaza

Gaza July 2014 Mother and Child

Israel is using « DIME » shrapnel bombs in Gaza, against Geneva rules
PUBLISHED: 14 JULY 2014 HITS: 800

The information comes from the French newspaper l'Humanité. According to the testimony of a Norwegian surgeon, Israel is using Dense Inert Metal Explosive bombs in Gaza, violating the Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, to which Israel is party. Dr. Erik Fosse, who has come for humanitarian purposes, testifies that Israel is using in Gaza these bombs, which have a shrapnel effect on civilians. He knows them because he was already intervening in Gaza in 2008 – 2009, and already had to denounce the use of this weapon, together with Palestinian doctors. The way Israel is using DIME bombs in Gaza may amount to a war crime.

Dense Inert Metal Explosive are a mix of explosive material and small particles of chemically inert material, for instance tungsten. The metal is mixed in very small particles (1 – 2 mm) or in powder, and thus the micro-shrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone. The mix, in a carbon fibre casing, has a very potent shrapnel effect in a small radius : the probability of killing people within a small radius is increased, and survivors may have to be amputated (esp. of the lower limbs), because the shrapnel cannot be detected through x-ray in the bodies of the victims and the injury cannot be cured. The tungsten powder « dissolves » in the body, and any minor injury interferes with the clotting process, leading to profuse bleeding.

DIME weapons have been developed among other things as a replacement for depleted uranium bombs. In theory, the long-range damage of the explosion is reduced (allowing for the use of the weapon in urban, asymmetric battles). Indeed, the effect of the explosion is dissipated at a range of 5 – 10 meters. DIME bombs are usually carried by drones ; they are the dreamed « smart bomb » for a « clean war ». But tungsten is also a known carcinogenic material : in addition to their amputations, survivors must therefore be followed for cancer risks. The destruction of the carbon case adds to the effect of the weapon, as it explodes into small fibre sharps, of 3 to 10 microns. The risk for respiratory diseases, and for lung cancer, is very important.

Actually, according to Israel's Manual on the Rules of Warfare on the Battlefield (2006 edition), shrapnel invisible to x-rays are forbidden. The manual, which is referred to on the ICRC's website ( http://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule79 ), acknowledges that the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons bans these weapons, that cause « damage over and above what is necessary and [are] therefore forbidden ». Why is Israel using them notwithstandingly ?

Source: < The European Institute for International Law and International Relations >  http://www.eiilir.eu/