World
What bombs did Israel use against the al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’ in Gaza?
![What bombs did Israel use against the al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’ in Gaza? What bombs did Israel use against the al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’ in Gaza?](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-10T064241Z_1796437948_RC2EX9AZC2LI_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-1725950964.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440)
The three bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes on displaced people’s tents in southern Gaza left three enormous craters and myriad questions about the use of such big munitions on such a densely populated space.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Israel’s bombing of al-Mawasi killed at least 19 people and wounded many more.
At least 22 people are reported missing, assumed to have been vaporised by the intensity of the blast.
Israel claimed the strikes targeted Hamas militants, while Palestinians and aid groups condemned the attack as a war crime.
What happened?
Initial accounts of the Israeli strike were confused but it soon became clear Israel had struck the encampment with three large projectiles.
Twenty-two-year-old Tala Herzallah described to Al Jazeera she how and her family were asleep about 200 metres (220 yards) away and: “Suddenly, everything was turned upside down.
“The huge damage the bombs caused made us realise that these were meant for the largest buildings and not for tents made of the weakest materials in the world.”
Abu Muhammad al-Bayouk, a displaced person who lives near the encampment, told Al Jazeera: “We heard the explosions. It was … more than a missile. We found many injuries and martyrs and scattered body parts everywhere, including women and children.”
What did Israel use against the tents of al-Mawasi?
Al Jazeera’s verification agency Sanad concluded that US-made MK-84 bombs may have been used by Israel against the encampment of displaced families.
It based this on analysing the size of craters and footage of bomb fragments from the camp.
The MK-84 is 2,000lb ordnance, and one of the heaviest pieces provided to Israel by the US.
The US briefly suspended MK-84 supplies in May, worried that it may use them to assault southern Gaza’s Rafah. Israel proceeded to invade Rafah in May.
Armies tend to use the MK-84 sparingly, but Israel is reported to have used it heavily on Gaza.
The MK-84 causes a pressure wave so intense that, as well as destroying buildings, it exterminates life within a 365-metre (400-yard) radius.
According to the UN, the blast can rupture lungs, tear limbs apart, and burst sinus cavities up to hundreds of metres away from the blast site.
The crater MK-84s leave behind are roughly 15.5 metres wide and 11 metres deep (50 feet wide and 36 feet deep), in keeping with those found at al-Mawasi.
How many people were in the spot Israel hit?
There are no precise counts of people who are in the displacement tents, but Al Jazeera’s Sanad estimates that there were about 60 tents in the space Israel hit.
Previous accounts tell of huge overcrowding, with 20 or more people crammed into one tent to try to shelter from Israel’s ongoing war on the besieged enclave.
By that count it is estimated that at least 120 people were sleeping in the spot where the three large bombs landed.
Why were so many people in al-Mawasi?
Al-Mawasi had been designated as a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel in October of last year.
Since then, thousands of displaced people have either fled or been instructed by the Israeli army to go there.
There, despite what many describe as appalling conditions, many hoped to find the chance of safety for their families not possible anywhere else in Gaza.
For many, the Israeli army’s assurances, the absence of any highrise buildings nearby, and the fine sand underneath making the chances of Israeli airstrikes upon suspected tunnels unlikely, it was hoped that the camp may at least be secure.
Those hopes were swiftly dashed. Before Tuesday’s attack, al-Mawasi had been struck four times but people stayed on because there was nowhere else to go.
The biggest attack occurred on July 13, 90 people were killed and at least 300 wounded.
At the time, Israel said the attack intended to target two senior Hamas senior commanders, a claim dismissed by Hamas.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
World
Big Brother Host Julie Chen Moonves to Sit Out Live Eviction Due to COVID — Who’s Filling In?
![Big Brother Host Julie Chen Moonves to Sit Out Live Eviction Due to COVID — Who’s Filling In? Big Brother Host Julie Chen Moonves to Sit Out Live Eviction Due to COVID — Who’s Filling In?](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/big-brother-julie-chen-moonves.jpg?w=650)
ad
World
New reports reveal IDF hit Iranian military facility in Syria during 'unusual' raid
![New reports reveal IDF hit Iranian military facility in Syria during 'unusual' raid New reports reveal IDF hit Iranian military facility in Syria during 'unusual' raid](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-09T144050Z_1826673541_RC22X9APBBV5_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA-ISRAEL-STRIKES-scaled.jpg)
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) special forces raided an Iranian weapons facility in Syria shortly before a series of strikes in the region, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens of others, according to reports.
Initial reports did not indicate that any Israeli troops had been on the ground during the operation, but The Times of Israel cited opposition Syrian TV revealing that Israeli helicopters hovered over the ground while special forces descended by rope.
The IDF special forces clashed with forces on the ground, killing a number of Syrians and capturing up to four Iranians. The U.S.-owned Arabic-language Al Hurra network noted that the intensity of the raids and the death toll were “unusual.”
The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the attack as “blatant aggression,” saying nearby residential areas had “material damage.”
HARRIS’ SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIAN STATE REWARDS TERRORISM, EXPERTS WARN
Syria claimed that the strike hit a scientific research center, but the opposition reported that the facilities belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dedicated to developing ballistic missiles and drones.
A burnt area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria, Sept. 9, 2024. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)
The nature of the facility remains in contention, however. Western officials have long asserted the facility serves as a weapons manufacturing plant that produces chemical weapons like sarin gas. Syrian authorities have denied these allegations and maintain the facility is purely a scientific research center.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the attack happened at around 11:20 p.m. local time but added few details about the facilities. But regional intelligence sources said a major military research center for chemical weapons near Masyaf had been hit several times, Reuters reported.
HEZBOLLAH RELIES ON ‘SOPHISTICATED’ TUNNEL SYSTEM BACKED BY IRAN, NORTH KOREA IN FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL
![Hezbollah attack](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/07/1200/675/GettyImages-2163203587.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties along with local residents at a site where Hezbollah hit an Israeli village where children were playing soccer July 27, 2024. (Alaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)
A senior regional military source close to Iran and Syria denied the accounts, maintaining the facility was purely for research purposes.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Tehran strongly condemned the “criminal attack” in Syria.
![Tehran IRGC hezbollah](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/GettyImages-1914401121-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani speaks at a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 8, 2024. (Shadati/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“We do not confirm what was reported by media outlets linked to the Zionist regime (Israel) about an attack on an Iranian center or a center under Iran’s protection,” he said during a news conference in response to a question about the attack.
Researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis claimed on social media platform X that the IDF first hit roads leading to the facility, and special forces entered the facility and extracted equipment and documents before destroying it and withdrawing.
IDF UNINTENTIONALLY KILLED TURKISH AMERICAN CITIZEN DURING RIOT, ISRAEL CONFIRMS
Koulouriotis added that the facility had provided logistical support for Hezbollah and its activities in Lebanon, which marks the raid as a significant counterstrike against the terrorist group, which has attacked Israel since Oct. 7.
![Hezbollah weapons facility](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/2024-09-09T144051Z_463919328_RC22X9AUZ8A3_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA-ISRAEL-STRIKES-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria, Sept. 9, 2024. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)
Israel and Hezbollah have maintained a slow but deliberate exchange of attacks over the intervening months. The IDF in late August launched heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah positions across Lebanon as a preemptive strike, claiming Hezbollah had prepared to attack Israeli territory.
Israel also holds Hezbollah responsible for a missile strike in July that killed a dozen children and teens. It responded with a strike that hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Sri Lanka's opposition leader says the rich will pay more if he becomes president next week
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s opposition leader contesting the presidential election next week said Thursday that if he comes to power he will renegotiate with the International Monetary Fund the 2022 economic reforms package to ensure that the rich pay more taxes and the poor see their conditions improve. The reforms were introduced after Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt creating the worst economic crisis in its history.
Sajith Premadasa, the opposition leader in Parliament told The Associated Press in an interview that his party has already started discussions with the IMF to find ways to ease the tax burden on the people.
“We will be embarking on the third path, the middle path, the path is where wealth is created, the country grows and the wealth is equitably distributed,” Premadasa said.
He said there needs to be “fundamental changes” to the current agreement between the IMF and Sri Lanka’s government but those should be in a more “humanistic manner” to ensure that the burden on the people is lessened.
“And if there are burdens that have to be imposed, the super-rich and the rich have to disproportionately take a bigger share of the burden rather than the working men and women of Sri Lanka.”
Sri Lanka is in the middle of reforms and a debt restructuring program under an IMF agreement whereby taxes have been increased to boost state revenue. After the island nation defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022, borrowing was reduced and the printing of new currency notes was stopped by law.
Over 50 countries go to the polls in 2024
The opposition parties say however that many of the wealthy and those with connections with the authorities don’t pay their taxes and the burden is borne by the middle classes and the poor through income taxes and value-added tax on goods and services.
The presidential election on September 21 is seen as a referendum on the reforms initiated by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. They have improved key economic figures, but their effects have yet to reach many ordinary people.
Premadasa criticized Wickremesinghe’s economic policies saying that he is trying to find solutions through contraction. Premadasa said his policy is to “grow out of the problem” through an export-oriented, knowledge-based economy.
Premadasa, 57, is the son of a former president late Ranasinghe Premadasa who was assassinated by an ethnic Tamil separatist suicide bomber in 1993.
He also contested the presidential election in 2019 and lost to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to flee after two years amid angry protests against the country’s economic meltdown.
Unsustainable debt, a severe balance of payments crisis, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s spending of scarce foreign reserves to prop up the country’s currency, the rupee, led to a severe shortage of foreign currency and essentials such as fuel, medicine, cooking gas and food in 2022.
It sparked riots, forcing Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign. Sri Lanka’s parliament elected Wickremesinghe as president to cover Rajapaksa’s remaining time.
Wickremesinghe is also contesting the election and is seeking approval for his economic agenda, promising rapid growth with an ambitious target of making Sri Lanka a developed nation by the centenary of its independence in 2048.
Inflation dropped to 0.5% last month from 70% two years ago under Wickremesinghe’s administration. Interest rates have also come down, the rupee has rebounded, and foreign currency reserves have increased. Creditor countries such as India, Japan and France have agreed to defer debt repayments until 2028, giving the island nation space to rebuild its economy.
But professionals have been complaining of high taxes and all especially the poor have been affected by high living costs.
Premadasa is one of the three leading candidates, from a total of 38, and is supported by many ethnic and religious minority groups.
Premadasa said that he would prosecute those in the Rajapaksa administration who ordered cremating the dead bodies of Muslim COVID-19 victims, ignoring their religious sentiments at the height of the pandemic and pay compensation to their families.
Authorities then had mandated cremation of the COVID-19 victims citing health and soil experts who had cautioned that the deadly virus could contaminate ground water.
Premadasa however called it a “racist policy.”
Premadasa also said that he would allow maximum devolution of power to the ethnic Tamil majority in the northern and eastern provinces, a long-standing demand from the community. He also promised to call an international donor conference to help rebuild areas affected by a 26-year separatist civil war in those provinces.
The war killed at least 100,000 people.
Premadasa also said he would bring closure to the issue of forcible disappearances and those who went missing in action.
-
Business1 week ago
How Self-Driving Cars Get Help From Humans Hundreds of Miles Away
-
World1 week ago
Meloni says 'we are making history' as Italy’s FDI reviews progress
-
World1 week ago
Israeli forces using ‘war-like’ tactics in occupied West Bank: OCHA
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Queer: Daniel Craig shines in Luca Guadagnino’s steamy drama
-
News1 week ago
Georgia school shooting live updates: Casualties reported at Apalachee High School, suspect in custody
-
World1 week ago
How Venezuela’s recent history can inform its present-day election crisis
-
World1 week ago
Frontex chief: NGO rescue ships don't embolden Mediterranean migration
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump, Kamala aiming for the middle with varying degrees of success