An investigative report aired by the all-news state-run satellite channel in Italy alleges that Israel may have used a new weapon in Gaza recently that causes "especially serious physical injuries."
Haaretz writes that the Rai News 24 investigation follows reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicable injuries: an exceptionally large number of wounded who have lost legs, severe burns, and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel that comes from a conventional bomb. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an x-ray machine.
The Italian report identifies the possible cause of such effects may be a new weapon, launched by unmanned drones, mostly in July, though there were also reports of similar attacks in August. The Italian investigation raises the possibility that Israel has developed a weapon similar to the US military's Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME), "which causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius."
According to the DefenseTech site, DIME is an effort to solve the problem of battle in an urban environment without hurting innocent bystanders. But the cost of having DIME result in "an incredibly destructive blast in a small area" is having "the destructive power of the mixture cause[s] far more damage than pure explosive." The US weapon, which is still in the testing phase, is believed by experts to be "highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment."
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The Italian investigative report was produced by the same journalists who exposed the US use of the chemical phosphorous bombs during their assault on Fallujah in Iraq.
The Guardian reports that an Italian laboratory given samples from wounded patients found that the results were similar to the hypothesis that DIME-like weapons had been used. But the Israeli military, in a statement after the show, strongly denies the use of DIME weapons.
"The defence establishment is investing considerable effort to develop weaponry in order to minimize the risk of injury to innocent civilians. With regard to allegations of the use of Dime weaponry, the Israel Defence Forces deny the possession or use of such weapons," it said.
"In addition it should be emphasized that the IDF only uses weapons in accordance with international law." Some Israeli military experts have also dismissed the suggestion that a Dime weapon is involved.
The International Committee of the Red Cross had heard reports of similar injuries, and was investigating reports of how they were caused. A spokesman for the Red Cross said they were not yet ready to say what kind of weapon had caused these injuries.
During the recent conflict with Hizbullah, the Lebanese government accused Israel of using banned weapons, including phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs. Israel denied the charges. DIME weapons have not been banned because they have not yet been tested by international authorities.
In an opinion piece for Haaretz, columnist Amira Hass writes that Israel and its news media often fixate on reports of how many weapons Palestinians possess, while ignoring the fact that Israel is a "weapons superpower."
And therefore, what exists in Israelis' consciousness is not the millions of cluster bombs - that is, the flying mines - or the tens of millions of bombs and shells and lethal bullets stored in our arms warehouses and our gun barrels and the bellies of our helicopters and planes. Although the amount of such explosives is measured in the millions of tons, it is the 20 tons of explosives and the few thousand rifles that permeate the Israeli consciousness.
Israelis are convinced that we are facing an existential danger. But what has been erased from the Israeli consciousness is that Israel is a weapons superpower, and that the weapons this state has, as is the nature of all weapons, are lethal and frightening. The Israeli media, of course, cooperates with this distortion of reality. It devoutly reports every shot fired by the Palestinians and every rocket they launch – even when they cause no harm. But Israeli bullets and shells, which are fired routinely, do not exist in the media unless there are fatalities, and even those are quickly forgotten.
But columnist Michael Freund, writing in The Jerusalem Post, argues that everywhere there are signs that Israel's foes are preparing for another war and "it's time that we opened our eyes to the danger that confronts us." Freund writes that Hizbullah, Iran, Hamas, and Syria all seem to be rearming or preparing for a confrontation, so that Israel faces an "arc of hate" from "stretching from Beirut and Damascus in the north, to Tehran in the east, and back to Gaza in the south." Israel, he argues, needs to act now.
Instead of making this same mistake once again, Israel should take whatever steps are necessary to interdict weapons shipments to the terrorists, seal off their supply routes, and hit hard at those who are sending them the weapons in the first place.
Second, the government needs to begin seriously contemplating the possibility of launching preemptive and wide-ranging military strikes. Our foes are openly preparing for war, so why should we allow them the luxury to choose when it starts?
In a meeting Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports that Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought up Iran's nuclear program, and Russian arm sales to Iran and Syria. Israel says Russian arms sold to Syria were used against it during the recent conflict in Lebanon.
But Russian officials, who have stated they don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, said they have not yet seen "a direct threat" coming from Tehran. The officials also dismissed calls for a halt of weapons shipments to Damascus and Tehran. The Russians recently signed a contract to supply the Iranian military with Tor-1M anti-aircraft missile systems. Moscow says the weapons are purely defensive.
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Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan.
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