Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Alleged Weapons Testing In Gaza

Gulf News: Gazans die as Israel tests 'nasty' weapons
...they had seen clear signs that "a new generation of very powerful small explosives" called Dense Inert Metal Explosive (Dime) were being used in Gaza.

The military is steadily forcing the areas known as "population concentrations" to move inward, "clearing" areas on the periphery - first the agricultural land, and now the neighborhoods bordering them - and pushing people into an increasingly smaller territory.
Concerning D.I.M.E. -
Upon detonation of the explosive, the casing disintegrates into extremely small particles (vs. the shrapnel which results from the fragmentation of a metal shell casing). The HMTA powder acts as micro-shrapnel which is very lethal at close range (about 4 meters or 13 feet), but loses momentum very quickly due to air resistance, coming to a halt within approximately 40 times the diameter of the charge. This increases the probability of killing people within a few meters of the explosion while reducing the probability of causing death and injuries or damage further away. Survivors close to the lethal zone may have their limbs amputated (as the micro shrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone) and may subsequently contract cancer (rhabdomyosarcoma) from the HMTA micro-shrapnel embedded in their body tissue. source

3 comments:

Glynn Kalara said...

I wouldn't be surprised if new weapons are being deployed. As for them being tested? The supposition here is that Israel is using this particular population as weapons testers. That's really offensive. In War new weapons are always being deployed. Hamas deployed it's new longer range missiles in this war but I don't hear anyone moaning about that.

Jim Sande said...

Part of the reason why this war is going on is because of Hamas' missiles.

I think they are dropping everything on them including the kitchen sink. Its a mess.

Glynn Kalara said...

It's a mess of Hamas' own making. If you keep poking a Tiger in the ribs with a stick, what do expect it will eventually do?