Israel could have used smaller weapons against Hamas to avoid deaths in Gaza tent fire, experts say

By TARA COPP and JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense experts who’ve reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians question why Israel didn’t use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. The defense experts say the bombs used were likely U.S.-made, based on images showing a unique identifier assigned to U.S. government suppliers on pieces of the exploded weapons and satellite photos of the debris field. The Sunday strikes killed as many as 45 people sheltering in a displacement camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and have drawn international condemnation. Israel says it chose smaller-diameter bombs to conduct the strike against Hamas operatives.