GAZA, (PIC)
Israel has not resumed its aggression against the Gaza Strip in the same manner or for the same objectives as before the ceasefire. Instead, it has added new methods and goals, as once expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his belief that leadership is about creating “momentum.” In essence, the occupation’s leadership has decided to preserve its political future by eliminating any chance for calm in the region and creating “momentum” that prevents accountability—even if this momentum results in the explosion of the bloodbath currently occurring in the Gaza Strip.
Since the Israeli occupation forces resumed their genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on March 18, within just 18 days, they have killed around 1,400 Palestinians and wounded approximately 3,300 others, most of them children and women. This phase is considered the most violent and bloodiest among the months of war that preceded the breach of the ceasefire agreement, according to local and specialized sources.
In this latest round, the occupation has continued the chapters of the ongoing “genocidal war” on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, with full American support. The war has so far left over 165,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.
What adds to the horror is that the bombing operations carried out by the occupation in this phase have resulted in unprecedented destruction throughout the war. This confirms that Gaza is no longer just a war and conflict zone—it has become an Israeli testing ground where all weapons, even those banned in warfare, are being used.
This is not a normal explosion—bodies flying high into the sky and falling back to the ground in a scene resembling American horror films. But this time, it is not a cinematic production—it is a crime manufactured in American weapons factories, unleashed upon women and children living in crumbling homes or tattered tents.
Doctors, officials, and human rights advocates say that the occupation has returned to war with greater brutality and criminality, committing horrific massacres using weapons and ammunition with massive destructive power. These have targeted residential homes, civilian sites, and shelters.
According to these experts, the occupation is using the Gaza Strip as a “laboratory” to test its military arsenal, which relies primarily on American-made weapons, ammunition, and bombs—the latest of which was a deal approved by the Trump administration to sell over 20,000 assault rifles worth $24 million. This is a small deal compared to the billions of dollars in military transactions Israel has received since the war began.
Lethal ammunition
Dr. Khalil Hamada, Director General of Forensic Medicine and the Criminal Laboratory in Gaza, says the occupation resumed its war from where it left off before the ceasefire, but with more violence and bloodshed. He noted the intensive use of heavy bombs, particularly the (MK-84), which weighs 2,000 pounds (about 1,000 kilograms). These are American-made bombs designed to penetrate deep fortifications underground.
Since the war resumed, the occupation army has used these bombs in densely populated neighborhoods and areas, leading to widespread destruction, with almost no one surviving the blast. This is due to the massive “explosive shockwave” and extreme heat generated, with an impact radius of about 100 meters from the direct target, according to Hamada.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Hamada explained that some martyrs arrive at hospitals without any visible wounds or shrapnel injuries, yet they have died due to severe tissue damage, brain cell destruction, and ruptured blood vessels caused by the explosion’s force. Some bodies are torn apart, and others completely vanish.
Hamada added that “survival from these banned weapons is often temporary,” lasting only hours or a few days for some of the wounded, due to the severity of their injuries and the lack of medications and medical equipment needed to save them. Others spend the rest of their lives suffering from disabilities, disfigurements, or burns.
He continued, “It’s not just heavy bombs—any weapon used against civilians is internationally banned.” He cited the massacre at Dar Al-Arqam School in Gaza City, a shelter targeted by airstrikes from fighter jets, resulting in hundreds of martyrs and wounded, most of them civilians. “It’s one of the war crimes that shame humanity,” he said.
A bloody resumption of war
Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Media Office, described the two weeks following the occupation’s breach of the ceasefire and the resumption of what he called the “criminal war” as “the most violent phase of the war on Gaza.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Al-Thawabta explained that this period saw an unprecedented escalation in occupation attacks—targeting homes, hospitals, schools, and even humanitarian response teams and medical centers providing essential services to civilians.
Al-Thawabta pointed to evidence confirming that the occupation is using non-conventional, more lethal weapons with enormous destructive capacity as part of a comprehensive extermination strategy aimed at destroying both the people and the land.
He clarified that “these weapons include cluster bombs and bombs containing internationally banned chemical substances. The occupation uses them extensively, causing massive destruction to infrastructure and homes, and inflicting severe, disfiguring injuries on surviving civilians.”
He said, “It is clear the occupation is not content with physical destruction—it seeks to destroy the Palestinian human being with these deadly weapons that cross all ethical and legal boundaries, as part of its plan to make Gaza uninhabitable and force the population to flee.”
With American weapons
Amid these crimes, a document revealed that the Trump administration recently moved forward with a sale of more than 20,000 assault rifles to Israel last month—a deal that the previous Biden administration had postponed due to concerns the weapons might reach extremist Israeli settlers.
This deal is considered small compared to the billions of dollars in weapons the United States has provided to Israel, with American arms shipments continuing uninterrupted since the start of the war on Gaza.
On January 20—Trump’s first day in office—he issued an executive order lifting U.S. sanctions on Israeli settlers. Since then, his administration has approved arms sales worth billions of dollars to Israel.
Moreover, last Thursday, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly rejected attempts to block an $8.8 billion arms sale to Israel over human rights concerns. The votes were 82–15 and 83–15 against two resolutions that would have stopped the sale of large bombs and other offensive military equipment.
Dr. Salah Abdel Ati, Head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights, said that “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and systematic crimes in the West Bank by its soldiers and settlers, with full American partnership.”
He linked the Trump administration’s release of the rifle deal to its deliberate encouragement of Israel to commit more crimes. The most dangerous part, according to the legal expert, is the American supply of 2,000-pound bombs now being used in Gaza. These cause earthquake-like effects in targeted areas, widespread destruction, and severe environmental damage, while dramatically increasing the death and injury toll.
Abdel Ati confirmed that there is ample evidence of the occupation’s use of internationally banned weapons, particularly in densely populated areas—vacuum and concussive bombs containing chemical substances, used to obliterate entire neighborhoods and areas with their residents inside. Many victims’ bodies have completely disappeared, vaporized by these prohibited munitions.
A weapons laboratory
In addition to the military supplies it receives from the United States, Israel is using the Gaza Strip as a laboratory and testing ground for the weapons and ammunition produced in its factories. Abdel Ati confirmed this has been a routine practice in all of Israel’s previous wars, but this one is the most lethal, bloody, and destructive.
He stated that Israel uses its war on Gaza to develop its military weapons industry, especially internationally banned weapons, without any oversight, restriction, or international accountability. Israel’s economy relies heavily on the arms trade, as it is one of the world’s largest exporters.
Al-Thawabta agrees with Abdel Ati that the United States is fully complicit with Israel in the crimes being committed. He said, “The rifle deal came right after the field execution crime committed by the occupation army against civil defense and ambulance crews in Rafah.”
“This deal falls within the framework of supporting the occupation in its ongoing war against the Palestinian people. It represents a blatant violation of international laws that prohibit supplying conflict parties with weapons used in crimes against humanity. Clearly, these weapons are not only being used in military escalation against the Palestinian resistance, but specifically to target civilians, including medical and relief teams,” Al-Thawabta said.
The government official concluded, “This decision reflects the suspicious role of the U.S. administration in strengthening the Israeli occupation’s war machine. It worsens the humanitarian situation in Gaza and undermines all peace efforts. The U.S. administration bears full responsibility for the consequences of its policies.”
