Israel's Death Machine has begun spilling into the Gaza strip. So far, according to Al Jazeera, 4 Israeli Occupation troops have been killed and several injured.
Al Jazeera also noted that Ehud Barak has stated that the invasion shall last many days. He is preparing Israel's domestic audience that their invasion force shall run into a stiff resistance from Hamas' soldiers.
I also witnessed several explosion in Gaza. They appeared to look like White Phosphorus. Exactly similar to what the U.S. used on Fallujah, in Occupied Iraq.
There have been reports in the past, that Israel used DIME weapons on Gaza and Lebanon. I've included some material on that:
1) The DIME Bomb: Yet Another Genotoxic Weapon
By James Brooks, Al-Jazeerah, 5 December 2006
It's been almost five months since the first report that Israeli drone aircraft have been dropping a “mystery weapon” on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Since then, news media around the world have run stories depicting the strange and “horrific” wounds inflicted by the new bomb. The international press has spoken with Palestinian doctors and medics who say Israel's new device is a kind of chemical weapon that has significantly increased the fatality rate among the victims of Israeli attacks. (1)(2)
In mid-October, Italian investigators reported forensic evidence that suggests the new weapon may also represent the near future of US “counterinsurgency warfare”. Combined with photographs of the victims and testimony from attending doctors, this evidence points to the use of Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME). (3)
DIME is an LCD (”low collateral damage”) weapon developed at the US Air Force Research Laboratory. Publicly, it is slated for initial deployment in 2008. DIME bombs produce an unusually powerful blast within a relatively small area, spraying a superheated “micro-shrapnel” of powdered Heavy Metal Tungsten Alloy (HMTA). Scientific studies have found that HMTA is chemically toxic, damages the immune system, rapidly causes cancer, and attacks DNA (genotoxic).(4-11)
It is unfortunate that the US media have virtually blacked out the story of Israel's new weapon, not least because our own military may soon be using it in Iraq and Afghanistan. The story might also have told us something about the grossly disproportionate brutality of Israel's war on the Palestinian people—reason enough for the media to suppress it.(12)
Thanks to the intrepid Italians, the story could even have introduced Americans to their government's DIME weapons program. This three-part article will ask whether Israel is ‘testing’ US DIME bombs in the Gaza Strip, and explore the workings, dangers, and projected use of DIME weapons and their roots in depleted uranium (DU) research. These parallels will lead us to consider DIME in its historical context, as the latest innovation in the US military's long-running development of genotoxic weapons.
“They cannot return to life again”
The first reports about ‘Israel's new weapon’ came from Dr Joma Al-Saqqa, chief of the emergency unit at Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa. Dr. Al-Saqqa said that Israel was using “a new ‘chemical’ weapon” and its siege was “a live exercise on a new ammunition that, so far, has resulted in killing 50 Palestinians and injuring 200.” He observed that, “despite the damage in internal soft tissue in the bodies of injured people, the fragments were not detected by X-ray. In other words, they had disappeared or dissolved inside the body.”(13)
“There were usually entry and exit wounds,” Dr. Al-Saqqa reported. “When the wounds were explored no foreign material was found. There was tissue death, the extent of which was difficult to determine. A higher deep infection rate resulted with subsequent amputation. In spite of amputation there was a higher mortality.” (14) The effects of the weapon seemed “radioactive”. (15) According to Palestine News Network, Dr. Al-Saqqa “confirmed that there were dozens of wounded legs and arms. Many of them had been burned from the inside, and distorted to the point that they cannot return to life again.”(16)
“When the shrapnel hit[s] the body, it causes very strong burns that destroy the tissues around the bones… it burns and destroys internal organs, like the liver, kidneys, and the spleen and other organs and makes saving the wounded almost impossible. As a surgeon, I have seen thousands of wounds during the Intifada, but nothing was like this weapon.”(17)
However, Dr. Al-Saqqa could not analyze the chemistry of the bizarre wounds. On the first day of the siege, June 27, Israel had conveniently destroyed Gaza's only criminal laboratory. (18) Despite his pleas to the “international community” to investigate and lend assistance in treating the victims, “no one has lifted a finger”, the doctor was quoted in mid-July. “What we found were journalists who came to take pictures, but as for the medical community, nothing.” (19)
On August 3, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd had visited Dr. Al-Saqqa's hospital, “where the staff is struggling to deal with wounds resulting in an unusually high number of amputations.” Commissioner AbuZayd commented that “what we saw in Al-Shifa…was rather horrific.” (20)
According to Merlin (Medical Emergency Relief International), “75 per cent of war-wounded patients admitted at one hospital needed amputations” following an Israeli attack on Gaza City. (21)
The World Health Organization was reportedly considering an investigation into the injuries. Physicians for Human Rights—Israel “agreed to take away fragments of tissue from the bodies of Palestinians killed during the recent military operations in Gaza for possible analysis in Israel but urged the medics to seek an international investigation.” (22)
Tungsten in Tissue Samples: A DIME Weapon?
On October 19, Italy's Rai24news televised an investigative report that supplied crucial new information. The Italian investigators had tissue samples from the victims in Gaza analyzed by Dr. Carmela Vaccaio at University Parma. Dr. Vaccaio reportedly found “a very high concentration of carbon and the presence of unusual materials, such as copper, aluminum and tungsten.” The doctor concluded that her “findings could be in line with the hypothesis that the weapon in question is DIME.”
Rai24news reporters also talked to Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Ben-Israel, former chief of the IDF's weapons development program. General Ben-Israel appeared to be familiar with DIME weapons. He explained that, “one of the ideas is to allow those targeted to be hit without causing damage to bystanders or other persons.” (23) The US Air Force refers to this emerging realm of weaponry as FLM (Focused Lethality Munitions). FLM is expected to provide the ‘weapons of choice’ for targeting “terrorists hiding among civilians”, as a cheerleading Wall Street Journal article put it. (24)
With “focused lethality [and] higher energy materials…nano particles, intelligent fuzing, [and] mass focus lethality”, the Air Force “will be able to strike effectively, wherever and whenever necessary, with minimal collateral damage.” Ominously, the military thinks these weapons will allow it to target sites “previously off limits to the warfighter.” (25)(26)
This warfare of the future is reminiscent of what Israel has been doing for years, but with one-ton bombs, 155-mm artillery shells, and tank-fired antipersonnel flechette bombs. Are FLM weapons like DIME an improvement? Or will they actually increase civilian casualties and suffering, and mimic depleted uranium weapons by inducing disease and genetic damage in their victims? These disturbing questions will be explored in the next installment of this article.
References:
1) Palestinian injuries suggest Israel is using chemical weapons in Gaza Ma’an News, 7/10/2006 http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=13044
2) Israel used chemical weapons in Lebanon and Gaza By Jean Shaoul, Centre for Research on Globalization/wsws.org, 10/24/2006 http://wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/isra-o24.shtml
3) Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/19/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
4) Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) GlobalSecurity.org, 10/18/2006 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/dime.htm
5) Abstract: Potential late health effects of depleted uranium and tungsten used in armor-piercing munitions: comparison of neoplastic transformation and genotoxicity with the known carcinogen nickel Miller, AC, et al, PubMed, 11/26/2006 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11873492&dopt=Abstract
6) Neoplastic transformation of human osteoblast cells to the tumorigenic phenotype by heavy metal-tungsten alloy particles: induction of genotoxic effects Miller, AC, et al Carcinogenesis, Vol. 22, No. 1, 115-125, January 2001, Oxford University Press http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/22/1/115
7) Abstract: Carcinogenic Potential of Depleted Uranium and Tungsten Alloys Alexandra C Miller, Ph. D., Department Of Defense, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_library/reports/projects/dod122.htm
8) Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant alpha particle decay Miller, AC, et al, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Issue 91, 2002 pp. 246-252 http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/www/outreach/pdf/tungsten_cancer.pdf
9) Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomyosarcomas in F344 Rats Kalinich et al, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005 http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7791/7791.html
10) Abstract: Effect of the militarily-relevant heavy metals, depleted uranium and heavy metal tungsten-alloy on gene expression in human liver carcinoma cells (HepG2) By Miller, AC, et al, SpringerLink/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 1/1/2004 http://www.springerlink.com/content/u8830115617471jl/
11) Preconceptional paternal exposure to radiation or heavy metals like cadmium can induce cancer in unexposed offspring By Alexandra C. Miller, Rafael Rivas, Robert J. Merlot and Paul, Carcinogenesis 5: Environmental and Endogenous Carcinogens/Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/cgi/content/abstract/2006/1/448-b>
12) If Americans Knew http://www.ifamericansknew.org/>http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
13) Israel ‘is using chemical ammunition’ in Gaza By Duraid Al Baik, Centre for Research on Globalization/Gulf News, 6/13/2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=AL%2020060713&articleId=2730
14) Are New Weapons Being Used In Gaza and Lebanon By David Halpin MB BS FRCS, Electronic Intifada, 8/14/2006 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5528.shtml
15) Ministry of Health report on toxic Israeli weapons confirmed by Gaza City medical sources Palestine News Network, 7/13/2006 http://www.pnn.ps/english/archive2006/jul/week2/130706/report5.htm
16) ibid.
17) Doctors Report Unusual Weapon Used in Gaza Pacifica/Free Speech Radio News 7/11/2006 http://www.pacifica.org/programs/fsrn/fsrn_060711.html
18) Israel ‘is using chemical ammunition’ in Gaza Centre for Research on Globalization/Gulf News, 6/13/2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=AL%2020060713&articleId=2730
19) Ministry of Health report on toxic Israeli weapons confirmed by Gaza City medical sources Palestine News Network, 7/13/2006 http://www.pnn.ps/english/archive2006/jul/week2/130706/report5.htm
20) UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd: “Please don’t forget what's going on in Gaza” ReliefWeb/UNRWA, 8/3/2006 http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6SBJDR?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
21) Hospitals in Gaza overwhelmed and running out of supplies Electronic Intifada/Merlin, 8/8/2006 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5455.shtml
22) Gaza doctors encounter ‘unexplained injuries' Donald Macintyre, The Independent 9/4/2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1359830.ece
23) Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/12/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
24) Air Force seeks a bomb with less bang By Greg Jaffe, The Wall Street Journal/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/11/2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06096/679996-84.stm
25) Munition Technology Drivers By Col. Thomas “Mas” Masiell, Air Force Research Laboratory, 12/1/2006 http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2001munitions/masiello.pdf
26) USAF Unfunded Priority List (UPL) SAF/FMB POC, FY 2007, February 2006, Page 54 http://wwwd.house.gov/hasc_democrats/Issues%20109th/unfunded/AF%20UFR%20FY07.pdf
James Brooks serves as webmaster for Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel at http://www.vtjp.org/ He can be contacted at jamiedb@wildblue.net
[ Source: Hartford-HWP ]
2) Israel's Lab In Palestine
Disturbing reports allege that Israel is using Gaza as a field to experiment its new lethal weapons, reports Mel Frykberg
Doctors in Gaza have been reporting strange wounds on the bodies of innocent bystanders and those targeted by drones. These wounds consist of many small holes, often invisible to X-rays, and burns caused by heat so intense that many cases have required amputation because of the extensive burning.
Habas Al-Wahid, head of the emergency centre at the Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza city told the journalists that the legs of the injured were sliced from their bodies "as if a saw was used to cut through the bone." But there was no evidence of ordinary metal shrapnel in or near the wounds.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Juma Saka said that on examination of the wounds, the doctors had found a powder on the victim's bodies and in their internal organs. Afterwards they removed the microscopic particles which turned out to be carbon and tungsten.
"The powder was like microscopic shrapnel, and this is likely what caused the injuries," Saka said. Complicating the issue was the death of many patients several days afterwards, although they appeared to recover initially. Accusations that Israel is using Gaza and its inhabitants as a laboratory to test new military weapons, have been made from several quarters.
"We don't know what it means -- new weapons or something added to a previous weapon," said Saied Joudda, deputy director at the Kamal Odwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.
To back up their personal experiences, a group of doctors compiled extensive documentary evidence of the extent of the wounds, which occurred specifically in the legs. In other parts of the body, metallic fragments, bigger than the size of the small wounds, were found.
"In our opinion, Israel has also used chemical weapons, such as numerous cases demonstrate, documented cases, with persons having extremely serious burns to their internal organs in the absence of external wounds," said Mouawia, a cardio-vascular surgeon and director-general of emergency services in Gaza.
An investigating team of Italian journalists produced a documentary on Italian state television's satellite channel, RAI News 24, alleging that Israel used dense inert metal explosives (DIME) against Palestinian targets in July and August of last year. This followed journalists taking samples of the microscopic explosives from Gaza and having them tested in a laboratory in Italy.
Carmela Vaccaio, a doctor at the University of Parma, examined samples sent by the Italian reporters from the Gaza Strip and found a high concentration of carbon, as well as copper, aluminium and tungsten, which she considered to be unusual materials. In her report she concluded, "these findings could be in line with the hypothesis that the weapon in question is DIME. The same investigating team also exposed the US military's use of white phosphorus against civilians during attacks on Falluja in Iraq.
Similar accusations were made against Israel during the Lebanon war, when the Jewish state originally denied using phosphorous against Lebanese civilians. But several days later, following the explosive allegations of the Italian journalists and with overwhelming evidence, Israeli cabinet minister, Jacob Edery confirmed that the Israeli military had in fact made use of phosphorous shells.
Israel is accused of dropping more than a million cluster bombs in the south of Lebanon just a few days before the ceasefire. Since then there have been several Lebanese deaths on a daily basis after people accidentally trod on unexploded shells.
According to military experts, DIME is a carbon-encased missile that shatters on impact into minuscule splinters, at the same time setting off an explosive that shoots blades of energy-charged, heavy metal tungsten alloy (HMTA) powder, such as cobalt and nickel or iron, with a carbon fibre casing. It turns to dust on impact, as it loses inertia very quickly due to air resistance, burning and destroying through a very precise angulation everything within a four-metre range, as opposed to the shrapnel which results from the fragmentation of a metal casing. The designation of the metal as "inert" is due to the metal's non-involvement in the blast, rather than the metal being chemically or biologically inert.
This technology is one of a new range of "low collateral damage" or LCD weapons designed to minimise the damage to nearby property, by confining its increased lethal effects to a restricted space. So it is "ideal for densely populated areas" and "helping the warfighter to prevent the loss of public support," according to its enthusiastic proponents.
Israeli military spokesmen have refused to acknowledge or deny the use of DIME in Gaza, but simply stated that Israel only uses weapons that are legal under international law. The catch is that as DIME is a new weapon, the jury is still out as it still has to be assessed.
However, Yitzhak Ben-Israel, a major-general in the Israel Air Force, and former head of the army's weapons- development programme didn't deny that the Israelis had used DIME in Gaza but went on to explain its credentials.
"The idea behind DIME is to allow the accurate pin- pointing of targets without causing collateral damage to innocent bystanders. This is a technology that allows the striking of very small targets."
This would conveniently fit in with Israel's policy of targeted assassinations, however as the Gaza Strip is so densely populated with nearly 1.5 million people crammed into an area 10 by six miles, the chances of innocent bystanders being hit is very high.
In addition to being seriously maimed, injured and killed, due to the carcinogenic effects of DIME, the number of Palestinians becoming afflicted with cancer will multiply in the long term, in addition to their environment being extensively damaged should the Israelis continue to use this new weapon with impunity.
[ Source: Al-Ahram Weekly ]
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