The Guardian: Israeli military used 500lb bomb in strike on Gaza cafe

GAZA, July  03 (YPA) –  The Israeli occupation military used a 500lb (230kg) US-made bomb when it attacked a crowded beachfront café in Gaza on Monday, killing at least 31 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, according to an investigation by The Guardian.

According to the investigation, the bomb is a powerful and indiscriminate weapon that generates a massive blast wave and scatters shrapnel over a wide area

Experts in international law said the use of such a munition despite the known presence of many unprotected civilians, including children, women and elderly people, was almost certainly unlawful and may constitute a war crime, the investigation revealed.

Fragments of the weapon from the ruins of al-Baqa cafe photographed by the Guardian have been identified by ordnance experts as parts of an MK-82 general purpose 230kg bomb, a US-made staple of many bombing campaigns in recent decades.

The large crater left by the explosion was further evidence of the use of a large and powerful bomb such as the MK-82, two ordnance experts said.

According to medical sources, the Israeli strike on the café killed approximately 31 people and injured dozens more.

@E.Y.M