TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel has dropped 100,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip, or more than 100 kilotons, since launching a genocide 19 months ago as reported by Anadolu.
The relentless assault has resulted in more than 62,000 Palestinians killed or missing and over 12,000 massacres, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Gaza government media office. The statement detailed the extent of the destruction since the campaign began on October 7, 2023.
To put the scale into perspective, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a blast yield of around 15 kilotons. This means the total bombardment of Gaza is equivalent to nearly seven Hiroshima bombs.
This comparison was highlighted by William Astor, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and current history professor, as reported by Alquds. Astor is also a senior researcher at the Eisenhower Media Network, a group of military veterans and national security experts.
"Gaza is already almost destroyed. The Israeli government's intention is clear: after making Gaza uninhabitable, the remaining Palestinians will be expelled, displaced, and evacuated. Or they will die on the spot, from further bombing, as well as from hunger and disease," said Astor.
Astor argues that the U.S. government enabled this genocide by supplying all the bombs Israel needed to destroy Gaza. The U.S. government also provided diplomatic and military protection while Israel implemented its final solution to the Gaza conflict.
According to the report, more than 10,000 people remain trapped under rubble, their fate unknown. Israel is said to have carried out over 12,000 massacres, including 11,926 targeting family groups, wiping out 2,200 families and 6,350 individuals from Gaza's civil records.
The strikes have also targeted cemeteries, with Israeli forces reportedly removing 2,300 bodies from graves and creating seven mass graves in hospitals—529 bodies have been discovered so far.
The media office noted over 2.1 million cases of infectious diseases linked to displacement and the collapse of Gaza’s health infrastructure, including 71,338 hepatitis cases.
Destruction extended to religious and humanitarian infrastructure: 828 mosques were destroyed, 167 partially damaged, and three churches targeted. Nineteen out of 60 cemetery sites were also damaged or destroyed.
As part of its starvation policy, Israel has reportedly targeted 66 aid facilities, including 29 soup kitchens and 37 aid centers, and has blocked 37,400 humanitarian and fuel trucks since the borders were fully closed more than two months ago.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military offensive has killed nearly 52,800 Palestinian civilians, most of them women and children.
In response, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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