What Israel's 'precision bombing' of Gaza looks like

The kind of violence visited upon the people of Gaza is designed to strafe armies, not refugee camps or city blocks.

In the aftermath of Israel’s last major assault on Gaza — nine days of round-the-clock bombing and shelling which began on November 14, 2012 — I visited the scene of one of its most horrific tragedies. Here’s the Human Rights Watch description of what happened:

An Israeli airstrike that killed 12 civilians – the largest number of civilians killed in a single attack during the Gaza fighting in November – was a clear violation of the laws of war.

On November 18, 2012, Israeli forces dropped what appears to have been a large aerial bomb on the three-story home of the Dalu family in Gaza City, killing 10 members of the household – one man, five women, and four children.

After that chilling summary, the HRW report adds, simply:

“A young man and an elderly woman of the Muzannar family next door were also killed.”

Just like that, two Palestinian lives become collateral damage to collateral damage, consumed by a kind of violence — that of the American-made F-16 — designed to strafe armies, not refugee camps or city blocks. In one of the most densely populated places on earth, this is what “precision bombing” looks like:

(The following photos are from Israel’s 2012 Gaza offensive, ‘Operation Pillar of Cloud.’)

What’s left of the Muzannar family home. It was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike “targeting” their neighbors, the Al-Dalu family, on November 18, 2012. Six women and five children were killed, including 17-year-old Abdullah Muzannar and his grandmother. In the foreground is part of the rubble from the Al-Dalu home. (Photo by Lara Aburamadan)

The room where 17-year-old Abdullah Muzannar and his grandmother were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an adjacent home on November 18, 2012. In the foreground is the grandmother’s wheelchair. Spray painted on the wall are the words, “Here, the Muzannar family massacre.” (Photo by Lara Aburamadan)

Amjad Muzannar stands in the room where his brother and grandmother were killed by an Israeli airstrike on November 18, 2012. The “target” of the airstrike was the adjacent Al-Dalu family home, in which 10 people were killed, including five women and four children. (Photo by Lara Aburamadan)

“Here, Abdullah.” Spray paint marks the spot where 17-year-old Abdullah Muzannar was killed, along with his grandmother, by an Israeli airstrike on an adjacent home on November 18, 2012. (Photo by Lara Aburamadan)

Abdullah’s brothers, Haytham and Amjad, stand in the ashen shell of a bedroom in their family’s destroyed home. (Photo by Lara Aburamadan)

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