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<h1>Analysis: Israel resumed bombing Gaza, what has happened since?</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead gmail-css-1wt8oh6"><em>Do the latest US weapons shipments to Israel hold any clues to how the fighting will go?</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/gettyimages-1826024793-594x594-1701540436.jpg?resize=570%2C380&quality=80" alt="People mourn as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike on December 02, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza." width="413" height="275" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>People mourn Palestinians killed in an air raid on December 2, 2023 in Khan Younis, Gaza [Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images]<div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9"><div class="gmail-article-b-l" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-article-author-name"><span class="gmail-article-by">By </span><span class="gmail-article-author-name-item"><a class="gmail-author-link" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/author/zoran-kusovac">Zoran Kusovac</a></span></div><div class="gmail-article-dates" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 3 Dec 2023</span><span aria-hidden="true"><br></span></div><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/3/analysis-israel-resumed-bombing-gaza-what-has-happened-since">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/3/analysis-israel-resumed-bombing-gaza-what-has-happened-since</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-fbc-has-badge gmail-fbc-UID_24" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fvr3bal"></a></div></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Analysis%3A%20Israel%20resumed%20bombing%20Gaza%2C%20what%20has%20happened%20since%3F&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fvr3bal"></a><div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9"><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"></div></div><div class="gmail-wysiwyg gmail-wysiwyg--all-content gmail-css-ibbk12"><p>Fighting in Gaza resumed almost on cue on Friday when the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/1/the-israel-hamas-truce-has-ended-what-we-know-so-far">last extension</a> of the truce expired and hopes in attempts to renew it again faded.</p>
<p>Back in action first were Israeli F-16 bombers, pounding more than
400 targets in Gaza, including some in the very south near the Rafah
border crossing with Egypt. However, the focus appeared to be in the
north and there is little doubt that the Israeli army will try to
advance deeper towards the centre of Gaza City just as Defence Minister
Yoav Gallant announced: tanks, artillery, armoured bulldozers, then
infantry.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, contradictory news from Qatar, where intermediaries from
the host country, Egypt and the United States were still trying to
convince the warring sides to reach another pause. The first
announcement on Saturday said the talks were continuing.</p>
<p>Then at mid-afternoon, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a
statement: “Following the impasse … David Barnea, head of the Mossad,
ordered his team in Doha to return to Israel.”</p>
<p>Writing official statements is an art: One should never lie but there
is no need to tell the whole truth. While the “official” Israeli secret
service delegation may indeed be <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/2/israel-pulls-mossad-negotiators-from-qatar-after-impasse-over-captives">on its way home</a>,
I have no doubt that at least a small team remains in Doha. They may
not be Mossad, but it would be foolish not to leave qualified liaison
officers who can keep talking.</p>
<p>Another reason for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
maintain at least a core team of officials in Qatar would be to avoid
straining relations with traditional ally the United States, which has
supported Israel greatly in the post-October 7 crisis.</p>
<p>US President Joe Biden visited Israel offering Bibi a photo op the
cunning veteran of Israeli politics jumped on, splattering the media
with their embraces and carefully selected soundbites. Washington
followed with massive supplies of military goods, some commercial sales,
and others loans. The biggest may be the $14.3bn aid package “for
Israel’s defence”.</p>
<p>Weapons and armaments have been pouring into Israel by US C-17
aircraft and commercial airlifters practically from October 8. The
Washington Post reported that 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells
(155mm) came by air, a figure consistent with the estimated amount of
ordnance expended in the eight-week campaign and the carrying capacity
of the aircraft.</p>
<p>Less urgent supplies will be arriving on less glamourous, higher-capacity ships.</p>
<p>As the bombing campaign resumed, the media revealed the types of
bombs shipped to Israel, focusing mostly on the specialised heavy
“bunker busters”. The report claims that 100 BLU-109 bombs were shipped.
Some media speculated that this delivery may signify a change in
tactics against the Hamas, but there is nothing to be excited about.</p>
<img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2530584" src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-12-02T165533Z_347809824_RC2YO4A7EZF4_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-CHARITY-FOOD-1701571740.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C578&quality=80" alt="a child wearing pink holds a pink pot over their hold" width="413" height="310" style="margin-right: 25px;">Palestinian
children wait for food aid amid food shortages, as Israel resumes
bombing Gaza, in Rafah southern Gaza Strip, December 2, 2023 [Ibraheem
Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
<p>The 900kg (2,000lb) BLU-109 is nothing more than a “dumb bomb” with
thicker outer walls than general-purpose bombs, that help it penetrate
deeper into the earth or through thicker layers of reinforcing concrete
before exploding. The corresponding weight class general-purpose MK84
bomb carries 430kg (950lb) of explosives to the “bunker-busters” 240kg
(530lb).</p></div><p>But the BLU-109, which costs US taxpayers $65,000 apiece versus
$16,000 for the MK84, is of little use to Israel as a dumb bomb. To be
effective and able to hit targets with precision, it needs to be
upgraded with a far costlier laser guidance head unit and a control tail
unit. According to the same reports, the US delivered 3,000 such JDAM
kits that convert dumb bombs into smart weapons.</p>
<p>Apart from 100 bunker busters, US deliveries reportedly included two
sizes of general-purpose dumb bombs: 5,400 MK84s – 900kg (2,000lb) – and
5,000 MK82s – 450kg (1,000lb) – and 1,000 precision-guided GBU-39
“small diameter bombs” – 150kg (300lb).</p>
<p>Worried about the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of Palestinian
targets that could be compared to carpet bombing, the US warned Israel
on several occasions to reduce the number of civilian casualties.</p>
<p>After the resumption of bombing on Friday, US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken warned Israel that “the massive levels of loss of
civilian life and displacement scale we saw in the north must not be
repeated in the south”.</p>
<img class="gmail-size-arc-image-770 gmail-wp-image-2530550" src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/346T9CU-highres-1701569321.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C464&quality=80" alt="3 fires can be seen on the skyline at night" width="413" height="249" style="margin-right: 25px;">Explosions
in Gaza after Israeli air raids shown in a long-exposure photo taken
from southern Israel, on December 2, 2023 [John MacDougall/AFP]
<p>He allegedly received Israeli assurances that they would try to kill
fewer civilians, but the casualty toll in the first 24 hours of renewed
fighting, with nearly 200 reportedly killed in the bombardment, leaves
little room for optimism.</p>
<p>Can anything about the intentions of the next stage of aerial
bombardment be determined from the numbers and types of bombs delivered
to the Israeli army?</p>
<p>First, there is no reason to put too much importance on the delivery
of 100 bunker busters. Israel already had those in its arsenal and used
some, so this may be a simple replenishment or a modest build-up. While
long and sometimes deep, Hamas tunnels are mostly not covered in thick
layers of concrete, so Israel would need just a handful of bunker
busters.</p>
<p>Second, one could compare the number of conventional bombs delivered,
10,400 of two different weight classes, with the number of JDAM kits,
3,000. Along with the transfer of 1,000 small but precise
“small-diameter bombs”, these figures may suggest that one in every
three or four bombs dropped in future might be “smart” and that Israel
would be making an effort to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza, as it
allegedly promised the US.</p>
<p>Such a conclusion would be premature. Without knowing the number of
dumb bombs and smart kits that were in Israeli warehouses and bases
before October 7, a top military secret, the ratio of precision-guided
bombs versus dumb ones that indiscriminately destroy civilian
infrastructure and kill non-combatants, cannot be made and it will take
several more days to establish whether there is any change in the way
targets on the ground are attacked.</p>
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