Regular Defense Tech readers know that sonic weapons are slowly starting to be used by the American and Israeli militaries to disperse crowds with defeaning noise. But here’s a tactic in the sound war that I hadn’t heard of before: Israeli jets, letting off sonic booms over the Gaza strip.
The removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip opened the way for the military to use air force jets to create dozens of sonic booms by breaking the sound barrier at low altitude, sending shockwaves across the territory…
Palestinians liken the sound to an earthquake or huge bomb. They describe the effect as being hit by a wall of air that is painful on the ears, sometimes causing nosebleeds and “leaving you shaking inside.“
The Palestinian health ministry says the sonic booms have led to miscarriages and heart problems. The UN has demanded an end to the tactic, saying it causes panic attacks in children.
“Israel has long used sonic booms to rattle Palestinians in times of tension and violence,” Ha’Aretz notes. “The booms can be mistaken for one of the frequent missile attacks aimed at militants or weapons factories.“
Israeli kibutzniks living near Gaza are just as spooked by the booms as the Palestinians. The children are scared because they dont understand, but the adults are also afraid, one tells Ynetnews. We are trying to continue with the daily routine, but it is very unpleasant to live like this.
The Guardian adds that the IDF “was forced to apologize after one of the sonic booms was unintentionally heard hundreds of kilometers inside Israel last week.“
THERE’S MORE: “This has actually been a common tactic by the Israelis for a long while, mostly in the neighbouring country of Lebanon,” one reader tells Xeni. “This includes mock divebombing runs, and sometimes even firing live ammo. There’s also the danger of windows being blown out. And I must say, even if you’re on the other end of a phone somewhere in another country, it still scares the shit out of you.“
(Big ups: JQP)
Stop giving them more reason to hate Israel. I would plot their deatht oo if some inconsiderate pilot was making deafening apocalyptic noises over my neighborhood every once in awhile.
It is only intimidating when it happens, after the fact im sure it just pisses them off when they think about it.
Reminds me of the 1977 De Punt train hijacking in the Netherlands where they used low-flying fighter jets, with afterburners engaged, to stun the terrorists before the CT teams made their entry. It worked pretty well, like one big flashbang for the whole train.
Was that the one with Steven Seagal?
I hate Steven Seagal…
Jesse,
I had the exact same thought.…that must have been an incredible sight to see, roaring overhead in the middle of the night. Wikipedia summary on the unit involved in that at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBE
having served in the IDF for 3 years, let me tell you that a so called “rubber bullet”, is NOT something you’ll want to get hit by. it is actually a potentially lethal armament. to make it less deadly it is fired as a cluster of 3 pallets, so the energy is dispersed between them (but also making it impossible to actually aim them). a head injury by one of these can very much kill you.
that’s why they are only used as a last resort, when the soldiers are in a life threatening situation. (and if you’ve ever seen one of those crowds up close — thousands of people hurling rocks at you, having to cower behind the armred Hummer doors, knowing that you are the last line between that angry mob and a peaceful bordering israeli town — well… it sucks.)
the whole point of getting all the people out of the Gaza strip was to stop them killing our civilians and troops.
the problem is that this made the impression that the terrorist groups (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, etc) have wond and drove us out of there, thereby empowering them and giving them a strong sense of security.
and about those sonic booms?
i don’t see any news about the israeli towns being constantly bombarded by rockets and mortar shells almost every day.
i would imagine them having slightly worse problems than scared children.
God, the Guardian is run by uneducated morons.
“Hundreds of kilometers inside Israel?“
Uh, have these imbeciles ever looked at a map? There is no “hundreds of kilometers inside Israel”.
The common practice of producing sonic booms over a population by an occupying military is defined as a war crime. additionally, bombarding an electrical plant that supplies electricity to a poulation is also a war crime. Dropping 1 ton missiles on apartments buildings is a war crime.
When will the illegally established state of Israel ever be held responsible?
I rad the comment by Alex, where he resorts to calling the Israelis names,and I wonder what he would do if kids were strapping bombs to themselves, and detonating in his neighborhood. How about going to a wedding, and a jihadist decides to kill 50 innocent people by blowing himself to bits in the middle of them. I say,“Israel, protect yourself by whatever means neccessary. It is your sovereign right. When the arabs get tired of blowing themselves up, and get serious about peace, I believe Israel will bewaiting there to meet them. Until then, do what you must to protect yourselves. I support your right to exist, and not only exist, but prosper.
Even if I do not play this game, my res and flyff money can give my good friends, but my number do not delete~~