#Joint Direct Attack Munition

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Israel used a US weapon in a March airstrike which killed seven healthcare workers in southern Lebanon, according to a Guardian analysis of shrapnel found at the site of the attack, which was described by Human Rights Watch as a violation of international law.

Seven volunteer paramedics, aged between 18 and 25, were killed in the 27 March attack on an ambulance center belonging to the Lebanese Succor Association in the town of al-Habariyeh in south Lebanon on 27 March.

The Guardian examined the remnants of a 500lb Israeli MPR bomb and a US-manufactured Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) recovered by first responders from the scene of the attack. Pictures of the shrapnel sent by The Guardian were further verified by Human Rights Watch and an independent arms expert.

JDAMs are guidance kits produced by US aerospace company Boeing which attach to 500-2,000lb “dumb bombs” and convert them into GPS-guided precision missiles. They have been key to Israel’s war effort in Gaza and Lebanon, and have been one of the most requested munitions from the US.

Shrapnel recovered from the al-Habariyeh attack included a fragment with writing identifying it as a “bomb MPR 500”, as well as the parts of a JDAM which clip the bomb to the guidance system and remnants of its motor.

Human Rights Watch said that its own investigation concluded that the strike on the healthcare center was unlawful and should have implications for US military assistance to Israel.

“Israel’s assurances that it is using US weapons lawfully are not credible. As Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Lebanon continues to violate international law, the Biden administration should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Five days after the attack on healthcare workers in Lebanon, Israel killed another seven aid workers employed by the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. This attack led to global outrage and was called a “serious mistake” by Israel.

The revelation of Israel’s use of US weaponry in an unlawful attack comes as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is set to deliver a report to Congress on 8 May on whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US weapons do not violate US or international Law.

The Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said that the attack on al-Habariyeh should be reflected in Blinken’s report to Congress.

“These reports are deeply concerning and must be fully investigated by the Biden administration, and their findings should certainly be included in the NSM-20 report that is due to be submitted to the Congress on May 8,” Van Hollen said in an email.

Public pressure is mounting to limit or stop US weapons transfers to Israel as more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military operation in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack which killed 1,200 Israelis.

In Lebanon, the attack on al-Habariyah shook the country, with hundreds showing up to pay homage at the funeral of the young medical workers: twin brothers Hussein and Ahmad al-Shaar, 18; Abdulrahman al-Shaar, 19; Mohammad Hamoud, 21; Mohammad al-Farouk Aatwi, 23; Abdullah Aatwi, 24; and Baraa Abu Kaiss, 24.

The ambulance center had been set up in the small village in south Lebanon at the end of October, as cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began to intensify.

The airstrike came without warning between 12:30 and 1am as the volunteers were on call for the night shift. No fighting had been reported in the area that day.

The 500lb bomb leveled the two-story building, with the force of the blast hurling four of the volunteers from the center and trapping three others under the rubble.

An Israeli military spokesperson said that the airstrike in al-Habariyeh killed a “prominent terrorist belonging to Jamaa Islamiya”. Jamaa Islamiya is a Lebanese Islamist political group which also has an armed wing that has fought alongside Hezbollah against Israel since 7 October.

A representative of Jamaa Islamiya said that while some of the paramedics belonged to the group, none of them were members of its armed wing.

The Guardian asked the Israel Defense Forces which of the paramedics they killed were militants and what steps the IDF took to minimise civilian harms in the strike, but received no reply.

Three first responders, as well as witnesses present during the rescue operation, said that only seven bodies were recovered from the rubble: those of the medical volunteers.

“We examined every centimeter looking for parts of bodies and their possessions. We saw nothing military-related. We knew [the victims] personally, so we could identify their remains,” Samer Hardan, the head of the local Lebanese civil defense center who participated in the rescue operation, said.

The volunteers, most of them young university students, joined the ambulance corps after the war started – out of what their parents said was a sense of duty to their community.

“I told them that it was dangerous to do this type of work, but they said that they accepted the risk. I don’t know what Israel was thinking – these were young people excited to help others,” said Kassem al-Shaar, whose twin sons Ahmad and Hussein were killed in the airstrike.

Under the 1997 Leahy law, the US defense and state departments are prohibited from providing assistance to foreign security forces when there is “credible information” that they have committed gross violations of human rights.

The Guardian reported in January that internal state department policies have spared Israel from application of that law.

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said it was aware of reports of the attack on al-Habariyeh and that it was in touch with its Israeli counterparts to get more information.

“The US is constantly working to ensure defense articles provided by the US are being used consistent with applicable domestic and international law. If findings show violations, we take action,” the spokesperson said.

According to Josh Paul, a non-resident fellow with Democracy for the Arab World Now, a democracy and human rights non-profit, and former state department official involved in the weapons transfer process, arms transfers containing munitions like JDAMs are approved with little scrutiny.

“The state department has approved several of these transfers on a 48-hour turnaround. There is no policy concern on any munitions to Israel other than white phosphorus and cluster bombs,” Paul said.

Israel has relied heavily on US transfers of large dumb bombs, particularly the 500-2,000lb MK series, and accompanying JDAMs to fight Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to Paul, JDAMs have been some of the “key items” Israel has requested from the US in the past six months.

Human rights groups have raised concerns about Israel’s use of these dumb bombs – and the potential complicity of the US in any misuse of the weapons by retrofitting them with guidance kits.

In December, Amnesty International called on the US to stop arms transfer to Israel after it found remnants of JDAMs in two attacks in Gaza which killed more than 43 people.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed 16 medical workers in Lebanon, including 10 in a single day at the end of March. Medical personnel are protected under international law and targeting them is considered a war crime.

In the same period, 380 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 72 civilians. On the Israeli side, 11 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.

“My sons wanted to do humanitarian work, and look what happened to them. Israel wouldn’t dare to do what they did if it wasn’t for the US standing behind them,” al-Shaar said.

[gillianthecat]

ST. LOUIS SHUT DOWN A BOEING FACTORY TODAY! 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

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at 7 am—

HAPPENING NOW: We're blocking all entrances to Boeing Building 598 outside St. Louis, the facility that manufactures Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs for Israel to drop on Gaza. If politicians won't block the bombs, WE WILL!!

We DEMAND Congress and @potus call for an immediate ceasefire and stop arms sales and funding to Israel. We call on all communities to take direct action to shut down Boeing and other companies that profit from Israel's genocide and occupation.

update at 9 am—

WE SHUT IT DOWN !! All workers have been sent home and deliveries stopped at @boeing building 598.

[sayruq]

The United States is preparing to send more bombs and other weapons to Israel even as it pushes for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza and has said it opposes Tel Aviv’s plans for a ground invasion in southern Rafah where more than half the enclave’s displaced population is trapped. The proposed arms delivery includes about a thousand each of MK-82 500-pound (227kg) bombs and KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) that turn unguided munitions into precision-guided bombs, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed US officials. The US is further considering sending FMU-139 bomb fuses, with the total shipment estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, which will be paid from US military aid to Israel. The report cited an assessment of the proposed arms transfer drafted by the US embassy in Jerusalem as saying the Israeli government has requested “rapid acquisition of these items for the defence of Israel against continued and emerging regional threats”. The assessment also dismisses potential human rights concerns, saying “Israel takes effective action to prevent gross violations of human rights and to hold security forces responsible that violate those rights”.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group. The Israeli military has said little about what kinds of bombs and artillery it is using in Gaza. But from blast fragments found on-site and analyses of strike footage, experts are confident that the vast majority of bombs dropped on the besieged enclave are U.S.-made. They say the weapons include 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) “bunker-busters” that have killed hundreds in densely populated areas.

With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpassing 20,000, the international community is calling for a cease-fire. Israel vows to press ahead[...]

The Biden administration has quietly continued to supply arms to Israel. Last week, however, President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged that Israel was losing international legitimacy for what he called its “indiscriminate bombing.”[...]

Israel’s offensive has destroyed over two-thirds of all structures in northern Gaza and a quarter of buildings in the southern area of Khan Younis,[...]

The percentage of damaged buildings in the Khan Younis area nearly doubled in just the first two weeks of Israel’s southern offensive, they said. That includes tens of thousands of homes as well as schools, hospitals, mosques and stores. U.N. monitors have said that about 70% of school buildings across Gaza have been damaged. At least 56 damaged schools served as shelters for displaced civilians. Israeli strikes damaged 110 mosques and three churches, the monitors said. Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian deaths by embedding militants in civilian infrastructure. Those sites also shelter multitudes of Palestinians who have fled under Israeli evacuation orders. “Gaza is now a different color from space. It’s a different texture,” said Scher, who has worked with Van Den Hoek to map destruction across several war zones, from Aleppo to Mariupol.[...]

By some measures, destruction in Gaza has outpaced Allied bombings of Germany during World War II.[...]

“Gaza is one of the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history,” said Pape. “It now sits comfortably in the top quartile of the most devastating bombing campaigns ever.”[...]

So far, fragments of American-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) bombs and smaller diameter bombs have been found in Gaza, according to Brian Castner, a weapons investigator with Amnesty International.[...] In an Oct. 31 strike on the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya, experts say a 2,000-pound bomb killed over 100 civilians. Experts have also identified fragments of SPICE (Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective) 2000-pound bombs, which are fitted with a GPS guidance system to make targeting more precise. Castner said the bombs are produced by the Israeli defense giant Rafael, but a recent State Department release first obtained by The New York Times showed some of the technology had been produced in the United States.

22 Dec 23

[probablyasocialecologist]

It’s become a real challenge to keep up with every Palestine protest and action happening in this country, but I am going to round-up some of that have occurred in recent days in case you missed them. Over 75 activists shut down and blocked all entrances to Boeing Building 598 in Saint Charles, Missouri. The facility manufactures the Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs that Israel is using Gaza. “We are joining millions of people across the United States and around the world in demanding an end to Israeli’s brutal assault on Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestine,” said Ellie Tang, a member of the anti-war organization Dissenters, in a statement. “We urge Congress and Biden to hear the calls of millions of us living in this country, and push for a ceasefire. Until Congress blocks the bombs, we will.” After shutting operations down for 2 hours, the facility canceled its deliveries for the day. 500 protesters with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) took over the Statue of Liberty’s platform, dropped banners, held a sit-in, and chanted for a ceasefire. “HAPPENING NOW AT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY: Hundreds of Jews and allies are holding an emergency sit-in, taking over the island to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. We refuse to allow a genocide to be carried out in our names. Ceasefire now to save lives! Never again for anyone!,” tweeted the organization. Oakland protesters blocked a ship from leaving its port for hours. The boat was headed to the Port of Tacoma to pick up arms destined for Israel. Hundreds of protesters are currently occupying that port and at least one worker is refusing to take the cargo after learning about its use. At a Get Out the Vote rally, Democratic candidate Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was confronted by a protester calling for a ceasefire. “4,000 plus dead children in Palestine. 9,000 plus dead civilians, get off the stage. … Get off the stage. I don’t care … get off the stage,” he yelled before being escorted out of the building by police. Tens of thousands gathered in San Francisco to demand a ceasefire. “I can feel the momentum of it and that’s why we had to get out today,” one told the local CBS station. “My son’s in Trafalgar Square right now or he was earlier today. Same deal. People who just feel the injustice of the world.” A speech by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) in New Jersey was interrupted by activists calling on him to back a ceasefire. He quickly exited the stage. Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse were disrupted at event by protesters calling for a ceasefire. Rep. Grace Meng was confronted by protesters asking when she will back a ceasefire. She remained silent and her staff told them, “There’s a time and place for this.”

[usafphantom2]

Tonight’s Strike Mission against the Houthis in Western Yemen was carried out by B-2As with the 13th Bomb Squadron of the 509th Bomb Wing stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, as well as several B-2As with the 131st Bomb Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard. Each Bomber was equipped with a Loadout of “Mark-84” 2,000lb Bombs equipped with Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Kits.

@Sentdefender via X

[dangerousthingobservation]

The Boeing B-52H is in its fifth decade of operational service. It primarily provides the United States with immediate nuclear and conventional global strike capability. The B-52H is the most combat capable bomber in the U.S. inventory. Due to its high mission-capable rate, long range, persistence and ability to employ accurate standoff weapons and Joint Direct Attack Munitions, the B-52H continues to be a major contributor to the U.S. and allied forces.

[captain-price-unofficially]

US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron-115 (VMFA-115) "Silver Eagles" armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles (wing tips), a GBU-12 (left), and an MK-83 1,000 lbs Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) during Operation Iraqi Freedom, 17 April 2003

[girlactionfigure]

Footage showing F-15I “Ra'am” Multirole Fighter Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force, each armed with several Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), taking off from Hatzerim Airbase for yesterday’s Strike against Hezbollah’s Central Command Bunker and Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

[good-old-gossip]

Billions of dollars worth of US weaponry remains in the pipeline for Israel, despite delays to one shipment of bombs and a review of others by President Joe Biden’s administration over concerns that their use in an assault could wreak more devastation on civilians in Palestine’s Gaza.

A senior US official said this week that the administration had reviewed the delivery of weapons that Israel might use for a major invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million displaced Palestinian civilians have sought refuge, and as a result paused a shipment of bombs to Israel with a reported value of tens of millions of dollars.

A wide range of other military equipment is still due to go to Israel however, including joint direct attack munitions (JDAMS) — which convert dumb bombs into precision weapons — as well as tank rounds, mortars and armoured tactical vehicles, Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.

Risch said those munitions were not moving through the approval process as quickly as they should be, noting some had been in the works since December, while assistance for Israel more typically sails through the review process within weeks.

The US declared its support for Israel at the beginning of its war on Gaza on October 7 of last year, and has not held back in arming Israel, regardless of the alarming number of civilian casualties inflicted on Gaza.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Peter Beaumont at The Guardian:

The Biden administration paused the supply of thousands of large bombs to Israel last week in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the Gaza city of Rafah. Confirming the move on Wednesday, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said: “We’ve been very clear … from the very beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space.

“And again, as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions,” he told a Senate hearing, adding: “We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with with that shipment.” The US president, Joe Biden, has been trying to head off a full-scale assault by Israel against the southern city, where battles raged on the outskirts on Wednesday, once again displacing Palestinians. Rafah’s mayor, Ahmed al-Sofi, warned it is “on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions” in an appeal to the international community on Wednesday. “The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble,” he said. The highly significant US move on arms supplies comes amid mounting international pressure on Israel to pull back from a full-scale attack after its seizure on Tuesday of the city’s border crossing with Egypt, and criticism of Israel’s use of large aerial munitions in areas packed with civilians. The weapons – 1,800 2,000lb bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs – had long been seen by experts as the most likely to be targeted for any potential restrictions on arms supplies to Israel given how destructive they are in urban settings.

The Guardian understands that conversations in recent months had focused on how the Israeli military’s use of certain munitions diverged from the Pentagon’s rules on the use of such weapons in heavily populated urban settings. The Biden administration is also reviewing other planned shipments to Israel, including 6,500 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM), which convert freefall “dumb bombs” into precision-guided weapons, people familiar with the matter said.

With an invasion of Rafah by the IOF imminent, US paused weapons shipments to Israel.

[mirkobloom77]

‼️🇵🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸 US delays sending Joint Direct Attack Munitions to Israel

[Plain text: US delays sending Joint Direct Attack Munitions to Israel]

🔸 Source: Al Jazeera

⬇️ On the US stopping one ammunition shipment to Israel

[agentfascinateur]

US weapons used by Israel in the killing of 7 medics in Lebanon

The Guardian examined the remnants of a 500lb Israeli MPR bomb and a US-manufactured Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) recovered by first responders from the scene of the attack. Pictures of the shrapnel sent by the Guardian were further verified by Human Rights Watch and an independent arms expert. JDAMs are guidance kits produced by US aerospace company Boeing which attach to 500-2,000lb “dumb bombs” and convert them into GPS-guided precision missiles. They have been key to Israel’s war effort in Gaza and Lebanon, and have been one of the most requested munitions from the US. Shrapnel recovered from the al-Habariyeh attack included a fragment with writing identifying it as a “bomb MPR 500”, as well as the parts of a JDAM which clip the bomb to the guidance system and remnants of its motor.

Adding to what 4 US State Department agencies said about Israel not complying to terms of arms transfers. Is anyone truly surprised?

[zvaigzdelasas]

The Biden administration is discussing using weaponry sales to Israel as leverage to convince the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed long-standing U.S. calls to scale back its military assault in the Gaza Strip, according to three current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official.[...]

[Sources] said no decisions have been made.[...]

Among the weaponry the U.S. has discussed using as leverage are 155 mm artillery rounds and joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), which are guidance kits that convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions, the officials said.

155s huh? One thing notable about those in the last year is their abundance and ease of mass manufacturing at sufficient scale in the West....[28 Jan 24]

[silicacid]