Palestinian armed groups routinely used a large open area near the complex to fire rockets toward Israel. 1. I was waking the children up to have breakfast. Israel says it is only targeting empty fields, but come see our greenhouses. 235 ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, p. 65. Some shells do not explode on impact and become potentially explosive duds.141. 195 Ibid. He found his greenhouse destroyed by Israeli shelling.208, A Palestinian farmer points to the crater from an Israeli artillery shell inside his greenhouse in Beit Lahiya on June 14, 2006. Welcome, feel free to join in on any discussion! Gen. Avihai Mandelblit, Military Advocate General, IDF, Tel Aviv, June 18, 2006. Israels unwillingness to verify that targets were, Shahdi Muhammad Abu `Oda walks up the stairs of his severely damaged home in Beit Hanoun on June 12, 2006. Balancing civilian harm and military advantage is a subjective test that requires specific knowledge of the military advantage sought, but based on the facts available, Israel has not shown that the military advantage gained by the artillery fire outweighed the harm it caused to the lives and property of thousands of Palestinian civilians. 51(4)(a). An Israeli artillery strike on April 29, 2006, directly hit the home and injured at least two children. He said, We cant review artillery strikes individually We cant go to the field in every case We go on a regular basis to check policy, intelligence, have ongoing discussions and dialogue between us and the commander. The United States showed this procedure was possible during major hostilities in Iraq in 2003. For example, those produced to UK requirements are designated L21, not M107; German examples were designated DM21. 226 Facsimile from the IDF Spokesmans office to Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2006. 150 Human Rights Watch interview with Maj. Gen. Meir Kalifi, deputy commander of Ground Forces Headquarters and head of the investigative committee for the beach incident, IDF, Tel Aviv, June 19, 2006. I can hear [the shelling] in Gaza City. Gen. Avihai Mandelblit, Military Advocate General, IDF, Tel Aviv, June 18, 2006. It can be employed on all types of U.S. 155mm and 105mm projectiles in the U.S. Field Artillery inventory. How Israel Put Gaza Civilians in Firing Line, Mail and Guardian, November 12, 2006; Gazas Kids Collect a Different Sort of Shell, Agence France-Presse, May 29, 2006. Area denial traditionally concerns closing off land to the enemy to block communications and movement (such as a mountain pass) or for tactical advantage (channeling an attack or guarding a retreat).153 As a leading IHL scholar notes, however, while a specific land area can be regarded as a military objective, [a]dmittedly, the incident of such locations cannot be too widespread: there must be a distinctive feature turning a piece of land into a military objective (e.g. In response to a request for comment from Human Rights Watch, the IDF said: On January 5th 2006, 3 Qassam rockets were launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza strip, at least one of them from the Beit Hanoun area. At 9:30 p.m. on March 14, 2006, Isma`il Muhammad Basyuni, a 32-year-old economics student, was sitting on a couch in his upper floor apartment in the Al-`Awda Tower between Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces, http://www.marines.mil/unit/pandr/Documents/Concepts/2001/PDF/CI%25202001%2520chapt%25204%2520part%25202%2520Firepower%2520M795%2520Projectile.pdf, "Precision Strike Association Excalibur Overview", Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis: IHS Jane's | IHS, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M795_projectile&oldid=1115277540, TNT: 10.8kg (23.8lb) with a charge liner OR IMX-101 (IMX was adopted by the Army; Marines still use TNT), Manufacturer: General Dynamics (formerly Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation), Scranton Division, Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Day & Zimmerman, Parsons, Kansas; Mason & Hanger - Silas Mason Company, CEP 139 meters at maximum range with 39-caliber barrel, This page was last edited on 10 October 2022, at 17:27. This particular casewas a mistake. An artillery attack destroyed the greenhouses, making farming impossible. 196 Facsimile from the IDF Spokesmans office to Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2006. See also Human Rights Watch interview with Gen. Salah Abu `Azum, commander, Palestinian Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, Gaza City, June 13, 2006. As the Army's M864 Base Burner Assembly development and production source, Talley delivered nearly one million production base burner assemblies. Brigadier General Mandelblit said, It is our duty to do everything we can not to create civilian damage.222 In conversations with Human Rights Watch, representatives of the IDF legal branch affirmed the cardinal principles of international humanitarian law, including military necessity, distinction, proportionality, and humanity. an important mountain pass; a trail in the jungle or in a swamp area; a bridgehead; or a spit of land controlling the entrance of a harbor).154 This view accords with the authoritative ICRC Commentary on the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, which confirms that area denial may be a legitimate military objective, but warns: Of course, such a situation could only concern limited areas and not vast stretches of territory. . The terrorists often launch rockets from greenhouses and agricultural fields.201 Contrary to the IDF statement, civilians are not responsible for preventing armed groups from carrying out military operations near their residences, nor may Israel disregard the presence of civilians on the grounds that they should have left because of the fighting. 215 Facsimile from the IDF Spokesmans office to Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2006. In recent years the Army has massively extended the range at . The Next Generation 155mm Artillery Ammunition Family will include three new projectiles, the XM1113 High Explosive Rocket Assist Projectile, the XM1122E1 High Explosive Projectile and the XM1128 High Explosive Base Bleed. M107 shells are extremely deadly weapons. The IDF retaliated with artillery fire, but did not fire towards populated areas, and is unaware of any injury, or allegation of injury to Palestinian civilians.206 Human Rights Watch has been unable to identify any neighborhood in northern Gaza called al-Rul (or any close phonetic cousin, such as al-Ghul). Residents said that they had prevented armed militants from launching a rocket from the open area close to the apartments on the evening of July 23, some 14 hours prior to the first IDF shelling of the apartments. The dud rate for 155mm high explosive ammunition in the US stockpile is 2.25 percent. The shell injured 13-year-old `Abd al-Rahim in his hand and leg and Abu `Odas 5-year-old nephew Muhammad in the neck. 225 Human Rights Watch interview with Lt. Col. Noam Neuman, head of the Security and Foreign Relations Branch, JAG corps, IDF, Tel Aviv, June 18, 2006. Answer (1 of 2): If I remember my artillery training correctly the burst area of a 105 mm round is appropriately 35 to 45 meters in radius with a range probably error . First, the use of 155mm high-explosive artillery shellswith an expected casualty radius of up to 300 metersprimarily to deter and disrupt rocket launches by Palestinian armed groups near populated residential areas cannot be sufficiently discriminate to avoid needless civilian casualties.236 Second, firing 155mm artillery shells at land areas near civilian residences for the purposes of area denial can be expected to cause civilian loss excessive to any military gain. He also showed Human Rights Watch photographs of the fragment where it landed and the shattered glass behind. The M107 can be fired more than 13 miles and on detonation it produces approximately 1,950 fragments. A fuze adapter is screwed into the body and brazed in place. 218 Human Rights Watch interview with Brig. Depending on the circumstances, persons doing so might be considered directly participating in hostilities and subject to attack. The potential for artillery is terrible, as you know.156 Lt. Col. Noam Neuman added that artillery is not accurate enough to target just specific objects.157. It was the safest place I told the children to hide by the cupboard, which is made of cement. Its continuous and it affects your state of mind. Sofia said, I thought all my children had died because I saw them with blood and the rocks above them. 228 Dion Nissenbaum, Israel Expands Zone for Retaliatory Strikes in Gaza, Knight Ridder Newspapers, April 12, 2006. The IDF has argued that the proximity of the rocket launchers to residential neighborhoods in many cases justified artillery attacks in such areas. 57(2)(a)(ii). All deaths and the vast majority of injuries caused by IDF shelling between December 2005 and May 2007 occurred after the beginning of April 2006, when the IDF purportedly reduced the safety zone.164, These figures, and Human Rights Watch research, detailed below, suggest that the increased number of civilian casualties in this period was attributable to a combination of the IDF decision to fire artillery at targets much closer to civilian-populated areas and a tenfold increase in the number of rounds fired per month compared to the earlier period. 186 IDF spokesperson, Inquiry Results Regarding the Incident in Beit Hanoun on November 8th 2006, November 9, 2006. The pattern of casualties should have alerted the IDF to problems in its targeting decisions, that any mistakes took place in a context in which the IDF had loosened its strictures on 155mm artillery use and thus in part were a foreseeable consequence of using a weapon of limited accuracy very close to residential areas, and that it was necessary to give greater attention to minimizing the danger to civilian life and property. Some were playing there [in the courtyard]. Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M107_projectile&oldid=1106833831, Fired from M1/M1A1 cannon on M114/M114A1 towed howitzers with Charge 7, Fired from M126/M126A1 cannon on M109 self-propelled howitzers with Charge 7, Fired from M185 cannon on M109A1 - M109A4 howitzers with Charge 8, Fired from M119 cannon on M198 towed howitzers with Charge 8, Fired from M284 cannon on M109A5 and M109A6 howitzers with Charge 8S, Explosive content: TNT 6.86 kilograms (15.1lb), PD M51A5, M728 family, M557, M572, M739, M564, M577, M582, M732, Manufacturer: American Ordnance LLC & Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, This page was last edited on 26 August 2022, at 18:11. We might have no choice but to go close. While the other side does not have regular armed forces, they are armed and can cause much death. Human Rights Watch does not have information regarding 135 of the total reported injured by OCHA. They renewed their appeal after the November 8, 2006, artillery strike on Beit Hanoun that killed 23 people. legitimate military objectives or to investigate civilian loss of life in these attacks is indicative of a failure to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians. Proper investigations would have been especially important for revealing such a pattern, making the IDFs failure to conduct them all the more disturbing. Even if some of them didn't get hit by shrapnel, the pressure wave would have caused ruptured eardrums and concussions at least. WikiMatrix 183 UNOCHA information obtained by Human Rights Watch, November 2006. [citation needed]. The expected lethal radius for a 155mm high explosive projectile is reportedly between 50 and 150 meters and the expected casualty radius is between 100 and 300 meters.142 IDF officials have said that the error radius for a 155mm shell is usually 25 meters.143 Therefore, if shells are lobbed as close as 100 meters to populated areas, as allowed under an IDF policy discussed below, or even closer, as sometimes happened, it greatly increases the likelihood of civilian casualties. Haaretz reported that the IDF had reduced its safety zonethe distance between the planned impact point of artillery strikes and populated areasfrom 300 meters to 100 meters.160 In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Brigadier General Mandelblit would not confirm the safety zone policy: One hundred meters is what the media said, not us. MultiUn The M107 155 mm projectile was the standard 155mm high explosive (HE) projectile for howitzers of the US Army and US Marine Corps. IDF, Laws of War in the Battlefield, p. 40, states: The commander is required to refrain from an attack that is expected to inflict harm on the civilian population that is disproportionate to the expected military gain.. Heh interesting note on 16 inch shells, okay so its overkill, but anyways, while these types of shells are more designed to penetrate hard targets, they have a huge lethal radius, anything within 150 yards of the shell burst is dead from concussion alone, they create a crater well over 30 ft in diameter and I believe 20-25 ft deep (although these numbers might even be on the smaller side). Third, the failure of the IDF to investigate adequately almost all shelling incidents in which there was a loss of civilian life indicates a failure to take all feasible steps to minimize civilian casualties. The expected casualty radius is the radius in which people are likely to be injured by a weapon. 143 After the November 8, 2006, strike on Beit Hanoun killed 23 civilians, the IDF reportedly blamed a mistake in the artillery radar systems coordinates, which changed the margin of error from 25 meters to 200 meters, suggesting that the usual error margin is 25 meters. The currently approved M795 Operational Requirement Document (ORD) establishes the need for an extended-range version of the M795 to support anticipated warfighting scenarios. 180 Ashraf Khalil, Israeli Attacks Kill Six in Northern Gaza Town; The Targeted Area is Known as a Rocket Launch Site, Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2006. The rules of engagement for artillery are that there is no shooting without a target. Answer (1 of 3): There are several things that affect the real kill radius of any artillery projectile versus it "listed" (approximated) kill radius. According to an account in the New York Times, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert directed the IDF to strike before, while or after rockets are launched but not to fire shells into open areas near the border to deter rocket-launching teams from entering them.152, Area denialtargeting a land area to deny it to the enemyis a permissible tactic under international humanitarian law, but it remains subject to the prohibitions on indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The IDFs written response to Human Rights Watch noted: The military effort to stop the rocket launches from within the Gaza Strip is complex. It can land safely as close to 70 to 150 meters away from friendly troops. The IDF is unaware of any Palestinian allegations about damage to a building.. November 11, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3325549,00.html (accessed on February 14, 2007). In a number of these cases, it was boys who were retrieving the launchers and killed as a result. We urge further inquiry into this issue. Its intended replacement is the M795, manufacture of which began in 1999. 176 Facsimile from the IDF Spokesmans office to Human Rights Watch, October 12, 2006. Thus forcing launch sites away from the border, and especially away from heavily populated border areas in Israel, such as Sderot, is the only real means of reducing their ability to strike their general target. The M107 shell weighs about 44 kilograms and measures about 60.5 centimeters in length and 155 millimeters in diameter at its widest point. Answer (1 of 3): "How much does a 155mm round cost?" Cost to the US Army for a M795 (HE) projectile only (no propellant, no fuze, etc but with lifting plug and supplementary charge included) is about US$330 in 2019. During this period, the Palestinian Security Forces communicated to Israeli counterparts that the attacks were endangering civilians. Extending the range of the M795 HE projectile provides the ability to engage at an even greater distances and provides for a munitions which is compatible with current and developmental delivery systems and their associated propellants. Twelve-year-old Mahmud Salah Abu Harbid suffered shrapnel injuries to his leg. 329-32. 153 See APV Rogers, Law on the Battlefield (Manchester: Manchester Univ. by Kris Osborn. The shells killed four Palestinian civilians, including two children, and wounded 14 more. 203 Human Rights Watch interview with Ismail al-`Ubaid, 23, Beit Lahiya, June 13, 2006. Israel must remedy all three of these violations if it ever decides to renew artillery attacks. Human Rights Watchs investigations of attacks found that they may have been indiscriminate or disproportionate in violation of international humanitarian law. 51(5)(b) and 57. Then I lost consciousness [for three days].174 The shell killed 8-year-old Hadi and wounded nine other family members: Sofia, who was eight months pregnant, received shrapnel in her hand, side, and back, and suffered hearing loss; Tahrir, 19, sustained injuries to his back and left shoulder; Iman, 16, sustained injuries to her eye, face, arms, and legs; Bassam, 15, sustained injuries to his head and hand; Ghassan, 12, sustained injuries to his back; Munir, 10, sustained injuries to his eyes and legs; Anna, 9, sustained injuries to her head and one leg; Rana, 3, sustained injuries to her legs and face and stopped speaking; Roanne, 13 months, sustained injuries to her head; and Jacqueline Ma`ruf, 8, a friend of Hadi, suffered trauma.175, In its response to Human Rights Watchs request for information about this incident, the IDF wrote, On April 10th 2006, prior to the stated time, 2 Qassam rockets were launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza strip. In its October 12 response to Human Rights Watch, the IDF said on July 24 prior to the shelling, 6 Qassam rockets were fired towards Israel. The IDF reportedly did fire some tank shells into northern Gaza during the May fighting. It was not a planned attack. We are afraid to reach it, and we cant pay for medicine or gas, said 20-year-old farmer `Atiya Abu Halimi.207 Hosam al-Adar, a 29-year-old farmer, had not tended his fields for three months and returned to them only when Israel briefly halted its shelling after the Gaza beach incident in early June 2006. II, p. 188. When the projectile has a larger lethal radius, fewer artillery projectiles are necessary to eliminate the targets. An Israeli artillery strike on his home on April 10, 2006, killed his eight-year-old sister Hadi and wounded him and eight other family members. It has a range of up to 18 kilometers. An Israeli artillery strike on April 29, 2006, directly hit the home and injured at least two children. The Israeli-developed Shilem guidance system has been in use by the IDF for roughly 30 years. However, attacks for the purpose of area denial must abide by the prohibitions against indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks. I can almost see the Wii bowling "Strike" overlayed on top of the video. Mamduh died before he reached Shifa Hospital in nearby Gaza City. 2006 Bonnie Docherty/Human Rights Watch, An IDF artillery shell struck the house of Shadi Muhammad Abu `Oda in Beit Hanoun at 3:30 p.m. on April 29, 2006. Serious violations by one side cannot justify serious violations by the other. Another Haaretz military correspondent that day noted: One question has not been asked: Why was the landing of the shells not monitored by human eyes? It applies primarily to narrow passages, bridgeheads or strategic points such as hills or mountain passes.155. Despite relatively lackluster performance (Jane's describes it as having "an indifferent charge to weight ratio", "unsophisticated aerodynamic shape", "erratic fragmentation") compared to more modern high explosive rounds, it continues to be used by many countries, in particular in training exercises because of its low cost, high availability and smaller danger area than more modern designs. 222 Human Rights Watch interview with Brig. Maybe some houses are hit by fragments. Using the production M795 HE Projectile as a baseline, designers began optimizing ballistic configurations and incorporating an improved drag reduction system, based on the successful 155mm M864 Extended Range DPICM Base Burner Projectile.