Quote:

ISRAEL is testing a new "extremely nasty" type of weapon in Gaza, two medics charged as they returned home to Norwayafter spending 10 days working at a hospital in the war-torn Palestinian territory. "There's a very strong suspicion I think that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons," Mads Gilbert said at Oslo's Gardermoen airport, commenting on the kinds of injuries he and his colleague Erik Fosse had seen while working at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The two medics, who were sent into the war zone by the pro-Palestinian aid organisation NORWAC on December 31, said they had seen clear signs that Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME), an experimental kind of explosive, were being used in Gaza. "This is a new generation of very powerful small explosives that detonates with an extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 metres," Mr Gilbert, 61, said. "We have not seen the casualties affected directly by the bomb because they are normally torn to pieces and do not survive, but we have seen a number of very brutal amputations ... without shrapnel injuries which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME weapons," he said. The weapon "causes the tissue to be torn from the flesh. It looks very different (from a shrapnel injury). I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the last 30 years in different war zones, and this looks completely different", Mr Fosse, 58, said. "If you are in the immediate (vicinity of) a DIME weapon, it's like your legs get torn off. It's an enormous pressure wave and there is no shrapnel," he explained. Mr Gilbert also accused Israel of having used the weapon in the 2006 Lebanon war and previously in Gaza, and referred to studies showing wounds from the explosive could cause lethal forms of cancer within just four to six months. "Israel should disclose what weapons they use and the international community should make an investigation," he said, stressing the amount of damage apparently caused by the new form of explosive. "We are not soft-skinned when it comes to war injuries, but these amputations are really extremely nasty and for many of the patients not survivable," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24905242-23109,00.html

yes medics know all about new nasty weapons...

You are kidding right...  what sort of damage do suicide bombers and missiles do?

You'd think if these medicos had seen war wounds from all types of weaponry, and a bunch of wounded appear with injuries of a type not seen before, they could deduce that something new was being used.

If they can't say how horrible suiside belts are for little kids bodies they probably are from pro-hamas propaganda unit. Is there any mention about what pro organisation they are from in the article?

You think run of the mill medicos have great knowledge about "new" weaponry?

ROTFLMAO

tallowood,

suicide belts just use conventional explosives, like what's in all the bombs Israel's dropped on civilians in Gaza. There's no difference, except for the delivery method. The Israeli method costs billions of dollars in US taxpayers money each year, whilst the Palestinian method costs very little.

As for the medics, I read somewhere they're from a Norweigen volunteer medical organisation.

So they don't blow legs off and kill people and the wounds aren't nasty?

Quote:

You think run of the mill medicos have great knowledge about "new" weaponry? ROTFLMAO

Of course they would.  They obviously couldn't name the weapon - but like any injury there are identifiable indications.

They are professionals and can see the difference in injuries eg. limbs torn off in a serated or smooth way or similar signs as Easel said.

Why would anyone not think the US would supply Israel with experimental new bombs?

Don't be stupid mantra

Quote:

Don't be stupid mantra

Good answer Grendel - is that the best you could come up with?   :D

Better than anything you've come up with mantra...   :D :D :D

Grendel wrote on Jan 14^th, 2009 at 9:01pm:

yes medics know all about new nasty weapons... You are kidding right...  what sort of damage do suicide bombers and missiles do?

Here he is reporter boofy boof in the heat of the action, what say you boof? aww I say the medics know nothing of the weapons
Newsdesk-So you're an expert on weapons are you boofy?
boofy-aw yea
newsdesk-so tell us what you know?
boofy-aw well I'm not really there so I have no idea
newsdesk-So nothing has changed,you are  just parroting the Israel line

boof-aw yea.
and now back to the studio.

abu_rashid wrote on Jan 15^th, 2009 at 4:24am:

tallowood, suicide belts just use conventional explosives, like what's in all the bombs Israel's dropped on civilians in Gaza. There's no difference, except for the delivery method. The Israeli method costs billions of dollars in US taxpayers money each year, whilst the Palestinian method costs very little. As for the medics, I read somewhere they're from a Norweigen volunteer medical organisation.

Actually they are from "pro-Palestinian" organisation. That and luck of their medical experience makes rumours suitable for hamas propaganda.
Easel like good funny rumours so do I but rumours are rumours, they are not facts.

Well Easels initial post sounded totally plausible to me, mind you I am no expert, but what mantra and the others said about medics in war zones having enough experience to make such judgements, also sounds fair enough.

It does raise the very legitimate question of just what weaponry the Israelis are using, and is what they use, the best for getting their stated aim achieved, which is to take out Hamas, with minimum possible collateral casualties amongst the civilian population?

Now Israel should be transparent on this issue, if they want to continue to receive the moral support of the civilised world.

There may very well be good reason to employ a weapon with a strong, but limited blast area, when trying to take out specific locales, where terrorists are located, while minimising damage to surrounding buildings and people, but if that is the case, then they should say so.

tallowood wrote on Jan 15^th, 2009 at 11:39am:

Actually they are from "pro-Palestinian" organisation. That and luck of their medical experience makes rumours suitable for hamas propaganda. Easel like good funny rumours so do I but rumours are rumours, they are not facts.

Don't speak on my behalf. I like rumours based on fact. I don't like any of the rumours you manage to come up with.

We don't even know for sure if people who make those judgements are medics or propaganda workers. It would be reasonable to expect them to display their names and qualifications on some web site for verification by all who want to know truth not propaganda rumours.

As for weapons...there are some of weapons oriented websites where people discuss this from technical point of view. I think IDF also have something about it on their website.

Yes I am sure the possibility of using this news as Palestinian propaganda has not gone unnoticed, even the wording, "Nasty Weapons", is quite funny when you think about how many "Friendly", or "Kind" weapons there are.

Even so, the fact remains that the Israelis should display a degree of transparency in what they are doing, and what they are employing to achieve their goals, if they wish to maintain the moral high ground in this conflict.

Considering the war which is being fought, it does make sense to limit the damage to a confined area if at all possible.

Exactly right Ammad, what may have been designed to be a swipe at Israel, may actually just show that they are trying to minimise the collateral damage by using newer weaponry.

mozzaok wrote on Jan 15^th, 2009 at 12:20pm:

Yes I am sure the possibility of using this news as Palestinian propaganda has not gone unnoticed, even the wording, "Nasty Weapons", is quite funny when you think about how many "Friendly", or "Kind" weapons there are. Even so, the fact remains that the Israelis should display a degree of transparency in what they are doing, and what they are employing to achieve their goals, if they wish to maintain the moral high ground in this conflict.

Mozz, try this site http://idfspokesperson.com/

There are more in here http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/

tallowood,


Quote:

We don't even know for sure if people who make those judgements are medics or propaganda workers. It would be reasonable to expect them to display their names and qualifications on some web site for verification by all who want to know truth not propaganda rumours.

Israel turns Gaza into weapon testing lab?
Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:30:59 GMT

Israel has turned Gaza into a research laboratory to test out its new "extremely nasty" weapons on Palestinians, say on the scene medics.

After working for 10 days at the Shifa Hospital in the war-torn Palestinian territory, Dr. Mads Gilbert, a member of a Norwegian triage medical team in Gaza, blasted Israel for conducting experimental military work in the impoverished strip.

"There's a very strong suspicion I think that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons," Gilbert told reporters at Oslo's Gardermoen airport upon his return home on Monday.

Dr. Gilbert said the kinds of injuries he and his colleague Erik Fosse had seen during their ten-day aid work in Gaza had proven that Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME) was being used in the embattled territory.

DIME, which is an experimental kind of explosive, is believed to have strong biological effects in those who are hit by the "low lethality" weapons.

Survivors close to the lethal range may have their limbs amputated as their soft tissues and bones are shredded to pieces. The victims may also subsequently contract cancer from the micro-shrapnel embedded in their body tissue within just four to six months.

"This is a new generation of very powerful small explosives that detonates with an extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 meters (16-98 feet)," said Gilbert.

"We have not seen the casualties affected directly by the bomb because they are normally torn to pieces and do not survive, but we have seen a number of very brutal amputations... without shrapnel injuries which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME weapons," he added.

The weapon "causes the tissue to be torn from the flesh. It looks very different (from a shrapnel injury). I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the last 30 years in different war zones, and this looks completely different," said Fosse, 58.

"If you are in the immediate (vicinity of) a DIME weapon, it's like your legs get torn off. It's an enormous pressure wave and there is no shrapnel," he explained.

Israel had also used the weapon in the 2006 war with Lebanon and previously in Gaza.

"We are not soft-skinned when it comes to war injuries, but these amputations are really extremely nasty and for many of the patients not survivable," he added.

Following reports on the use of suspected chemical weapons in Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations committed in the territory.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Tuesday that "Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law," suggesting that the Council consider a mission to assess violations committed by both sides in the conflict.

The latest casualty figures according to Health officials have topped 940 since the operation began on 27 December, while some 4,400 others have been wounded.

Senior United Nations officials have expressed grave concern about reports that over 40 per cent of the Palestinians killed in the Israeli offensive, and almost half of the wounded, are women and children.

The new report comes on top of earlier reports which revealed the Israeli military had used controversial white phosphorus shells on Gazans.

The Times said on Thursday that it had identified stockpiles of M825A1, a US-made White Phosphorus munition, from high-resolution pictures taken from Israeli artillery units on the Gaza border.

A phenomenon characteristic of the chemical -- also known by the military as WP or Willie Pete is that it can burn through flesh to the bone and leave bodies "entirely shriveled with black-green skin."

Earlier last week, Gilbert's team, told Press TV that medics had found depleted uraniumin some Gaza residents.

The reports of profound human sufferings come as Israel continues to reject the fact that it has imposed a humanitarian crisis among the battle-hardened 1.5 million population of Gaza.

Source: Press TV

Ah...  they are at war...
Guns were "new" at some stage.
Mines were "new".
Suicide belts were "new".

I guess you could describe all those as NASTY too...