In the modern age of information, some important events catch the attention of people across the world, while other equally important incidents go unnoticed. This is what happened over the past few days, as the global media, the international elite and leading politicians focused their attention on the Epstein files, pondering the ramifications of more than three million emails and 1,400 videos that are likely to rattle Western capitals. It seems that they are too busy to do anything else. London, Washington, Paris, Berlin, Rome and all other major capitals are focused on the issue. The same could be said about the global corporate media that has been giving round-the-clock coverage to this important scandal.
But beyond the boisterous speeches in the American Congress and the political storm of the UK lies an investigative report by Al Jazeera with explosive revelations regarding terrible Israeli war crimes that were not reported earlier. According to the Arab media outlet, Civil Defence teams in Gaza have documented 2,842 Palestinians who have ‘evaporated’ since the war began in October 2023, leaving behind no remains other than blood spray or small fragments of flesh.
Quoting experts and witnesses, the Doha-based media group claims that the evaporation might have been caused by the use of internationally prohibited weapons. The report says, “Experts and witnesses attributed this phenomenon to Israel’s systematic use of internationally prohibited thermal and thermobaric weapons, often referred to as vacuum or aerosol bombs, capable of generating temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Celsius [6,332 degrees Fahrenheit]”.
The media outlet claims that the figure of 2,842 is not an estimate but the result of grim forensic accounting by Gaza’s Civil Defence. Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal explained to Al Jazeera that teams use a “method of elimination” at strike sites. “We enter a targeted home and cross-reference the known number of occupants with the bodies recovered”, Basal said. “If a family tells us there were five people inside and we only recover three intact bodies, we treat the remaining two as ‘evaporated’ only after an exhaustive search yields nothing but biological traces, blood spray on walls or small fragments like scalps”, he added.
The investigation by Al Jazeera detailed how specific chemical compositions in Israeli munitions turn human bodies into ash in seconds. The media outlet spoke with experts to understand the witnesses’ claims. A Russian military expert, Vasily Fatigarov, told the media outlet that thermobaric weapons do not just kill; they obliterate matter. “Unlike conventional explosives, these weapons disperse a cloud of fuel that ignites to create an enormous fireball and a vacuum effect”.
Fatigarov explained how horrible the use of these weapons could be for those targeted by such monstrous inventions. “To prolong the burning time, powders of aluminium, magnesium and titanium are added to the chemical mixture. This raises the temperature of the explosion to between 2,500 and 3,000 degrees Celsius [4,532F to 5,432F]”. This description could send a shiver down the spine of anyone who happens to hear about such catastrophic anatomy of this bomb, then imagine the cries of those who may have suffered its brutal attacks.
Israel was not alone in this barbaric action, but it was the US and Western countries that supplied such weapons of annihilation to the Zionist state. According to the report, the intense heat is often generated by tritonal, a mixture of TNT and aluminium powder used in United States-made bombs like the MK-84. This unguided bomb packed with tritonal weighs 900kg, generating heat up to 3,500C.
The report further revealed that the BLU-109 bunker buster was used in an attack on al-Mawasi, an area Israel had declared a “safe zone” for forcibly displaced Palestinians in September 2024. The buster has a steel casing and a delayed fuse, burying itself before detonating a PBXN-109 explosive mix. This creates a large fireball inside enclosed spaces, incinerating everything within reach.
The report also reveals the use of the GBU-39, claiming this precision glide bomb was used in the al-Tabin school attack. The bomb uses the AFX-757 explosive. “The GBU-39 is designed to keep the building structure relatively intact while destroying everything inside. It kills via a pressure wave that ruptures lungs and a thermal wave that incinerates soft tissue”.
TRT, Middle East Eye, Novara Media of the UK and some other media outlets quoted the report, while most Western journalists and media houses remained indifferent to these explosive revelations, which should have been the subject of every talk show and news bulletin. The same could be said of prominent social media influencers who cover everything from cooking and dancing to Trump’s ranting and elections in some Western countries.
Major Muslim countries also adopted mum over this report. They did not bother to call for a probe into the report’s contents. No emergency meeting was convened to discuss this heinous crime of our time that should prompt the international community to demand the immediate arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and all those who allegedly helped him carry out this barbaric action.
It is pointless to pin hopes on the callous global elite, but there are still billions of conscientious people across the world. Those who believe that such claims should be investigated must circulate this report widely, which might prompt people to pressure their ruling elites to take notice. Human rights groups and independent bodies working against the use of such prohibited weapons should send their teams to Gaza to find out the truth. The UN must also take the report seriously, mobilising its own mechanisms to verify its veracity.
Since allegations regarding the use of these internationally prohibited weapons have already surfaced, it is important that the world should not just talk about Iranian attempts to develop nuclear weapons but should also focus on Israel, which is believed to have been running a clandestine programme to develop such destructive weapons. Some critics assert that the Zionist state already possesses over 100 nuclear bombs.
Though such claims were made in the past, it is time that the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency send their teams to Israel to find out the truth about claims that the Zionist state has been busy developing such weapons of mass annihilation. Tel Aviv should not have any objections to such visits if it is true in its assertion that it is not making nukes.
Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are better positioned to demand a transparent inquiry into the Al Jazeera report’s contents. The two countries enjoy good ties with the US and its Western allies. Both have significant investments in Western countries. Trump and Western leaders who are trying to improve their economies cannot ignore requests from countries that have huge investments in their systems. The two Arab countries are also said to have considerable influence over Western universities, achieved through funding and donations. Such soft power should also be employed to sensitise Western people.
Sections of the Western population have already been furious over Israeli war crimes. If concerted efforts are made by Arab and Muslim countries, there is no reason to believe they cannot help create an environment where the populations of capitalist countries can exert pressure on their ruling elites to take notice of this Al Jazeera report and hold those involved in this savage action accountable.
The writer is a freelance journalist who can be reached at: [email protected]
