Thermobaric vacuum bombs: Reports claim Israel ‘vaporised’ 2,842 Gazans using thermal weapons
_vb_94.jpeg)
Gaza: Reports have now emerged claiming that Israel have been using thermobaric or thermal weapons in Gaza, leading to disappearances.
The country has been accused of using banned high-temperature weapons to “vaporise” Gazans, a new report has claimed.
The claims came to light during an Al-Jazeera investigation which stated that around 2,842 people were documented as having disappeared since October 2023 by Gaza’s Civil Defence teams.
Citing the investigation, The Week reported that the number of disappearances was determined using a “method of elimination” at the strike sites.
Quoting Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, the report said, “We enter a targeted home and cross-reference the known number of occupants with the bodies recovered.”
“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.
What are thermobaric or vacuum bombs?
According to The Week, thermobaric or thermal bombs, also known as vacuum or aerosol bombs, are munitions that use fuel-air explosive properties to generate extreme temperatures and powerful pressure waves.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Vasily Fatigarov, a Russian military expert spoke about the intensity of the weapon, stating that they don't just kill, they obliterate matter.
The phenomenon results from a two-stage explosion. Firstly, the weapons release a cloud of fuel or fine particles into the air, followed by a detonation that generates a fireball and a vacuum effect, pulling in surrounding air and oxygen.
Blast temperatures can soar up to 3,500 degrees Celsius. “To extend the burning duration, powders of aluminium, magnesium, and titanium are incorporated into the chemical mixture. This increases the explosion’s temperature to between 2,500 and 3,000 degrees Celsius.” Fatigarov was quoted as saying by the Qatari media.
The intense heat is typically produced by a mixture of TNT and aluminium powder known as tritonal, a compound commonly used in US‑manufactured munitions such as the MK‑84.
A report by Al Jazeera cites Al-Tabin School in Gaza as an example, where, following an Israeli strike, families were unable to recover the bodies of those who had been at the site before the attack.
Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza to Al-Jazeera that, “The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius.”
“When a body is subjected to energy exceeding 3,000 degrees Celsius, along with extreme pressure and oxidation, bodily fluids boil instantly, tissues vaporize, and the remains turn to ash. It is a chemically inevitable process,” Dr. Munir al-Bursh added.
According to the report, the weapons are engineered to maximise blast effects over a wide area, with damage primarily caused by overpressure rather than shrapnel, as is typical in conventional explosives.
An investigation by the news channel has identified three different US‑made munitions used in Gaza that have been linked to disappearances: the MK‑84 ‘Hammer,’ a large unguided bomb filled with tritonal capable of generating heat up to 3,500 degree celsius, the BLU‑109 bunker buster, which penetrates before detonating using a PBXN‑109 explosive mix, and the GBU‑39, a precision bomb employing an AFX‑757 explosive designed to maintain the building structure while killing through a pressure wave that ruptures lungs and a thermal wave that can incinerate tissue.
Fragments of the GBU‑39 were allegedly recovered from the Al‑Tabin School attack, the report cited.
Is it illegal to use thermobaric weapons ?
The use of thermobaric weapons is regulated under international humanitarian law, which mandates that parties in a conflict avoid attacks on civilians.
Human rights organisations have raised concerns over their deployment in densely populated urban areas.
In 2022, the Ukrainian government similarly alleged that Russia had employed thermobaric weapons at the outset of the war.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'My girl lay soaked in blood but no one stopped to help,' recalls Janakpuri accident victim
New Delhi (PTI): No one stopped to help her while she desperately pleaded for help as her granddaughter lay soaked in blood after a car rammed into their e-rickshaw, recalled the elderly woman after the horrific accident in West Delhi's Janakpuri.
The woman was taking her six-year-old granddaughter to school on the morning of February 17 when the tragedy struck.
"The e-rickshaw driver was driving very gently. Suddenly, a speeding white car collided with our e-rickshaw, and the three of us fell. I begged the car driver to take my baby to the hospital in his car. But he ran away," said Mercy Xavier, the girl's maternal grandmother.
The girl's mother said she got a call from a hospital staffer informing her about the accident and her mother's fervent pleas for help on the road that fell on deaf ears.
"She stopped three to four vehicles and asked for help, but no one stopped," the mother said. It was a nurse who rushed her daughter to the hospital with the help of another person.
"If help had come sooner, maybe things would have been different," the mother said, adding that the car was speeding.
Neighbours described the child as cheerful.
"Her grandmother would drop her off at school and pick her up. We've seen her -- she was very cheerful. She has an older sister and they live with their parents and grandparents," said Georgina, a neighbour.
The victim and her grandmother, residents of Lajwanti Garden, were initially taken to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. They were later shifted to an advanced facility in Dwarka.
The girl succumbed during treatment.
Mercy Xavier told police that around 7.40 am, she was travelling in an e-rickshaw with her granddaughter when, near the Janakpuri Fire Station, a car rammed into their vehicle, sending it toppling and throwing both of them onto the road.
The police later seized the car and apprehended its driver, who they identified as Sanjeev.
"The accused driver was apprehended on Wednesday. Statements of witnesses are being recorded, and CCTV footage from cameras installed near the fire station and surrounding areas is being examined to reconstruct the sequence of events," an officer said.
