Wehda Street airstrikes

Al-Wehda Street is located in the densely populated neighbourhood of al-Rimal in Gaza City, Palestine.[9] The neighbourhood is largely residential and home to many of Gaza City's professionals and businesspeople, whilst also being the centre of Gaza's commercial activity. Al-Wehda Street houses heavily populated multi-storey apartment buildings, malls, banks, schools and markets.[9] It is also the main street leading to Al-Shifa Hospital, a key centre for healthcare for the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.[10]

The 11-day conflict began after protests against the possible eviction of six Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and subsequent incidents at Temple Mount, where Palestinians threw stones and Israeli Police subsequently raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Jami'a Al-Aqsa.[11] In response to these incidents, on May 10, Hamas issued an ultimatum demanding that Israel withdraw from Temple Mount and Sheikh Jarrah by 6 pm that day. When the ultimatum expired without a response, both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched rockets.[12][13]

The crisis killed 256 in Gaza, including 128 civilians,[14][15] and 13 in Israel, including 12 civilians.[16] It also resulted in damage to infrastructure in Israel and significant damage to infrastructure in Gaza.[17]

Following the crisis, Human Rights Watch said that it was likely that Israel committed war crimes in at least three of its strikes, including in the one on Wehda Street. They also said that Hamas committed war crimes through its firing of thousands of rockets at civilian targets. Other organizations, such as B'Tselem, have made similar statements.[8][18][19]

Just after midnight on the May 16, 2021, the seventh day of the crisis, the Israeli military carried out a series of approximately 150 airstrikes on the Gaza strip, with more than 20 of those targeting the al-Rimal neighbourhood, and almost half targeting the broader Gaza city district of al-Wehda.[20] At least 11 advanced precision guided missiles targeted points along several hundred meters of al-Wehda Street in al-Rimal, resulting in 44 dead and significant damage to the street, including to various government ministries.[21][9][22][23] The IDF gave no warning or indication that they had planned to attack al-Wehda, stating that they did not anticipate civilian casualties due to their experience with previous strikes of this nature.[6][9] The IDF stated that they were targeting underground military infrastructure[4] located under the street, and that the bombs were designed to penetrate the ground first before detonating, with the additional damage possibly being due to secondary explosions from munitions stored underground.[9] This was the deadliest night of the crisis for the Palestinians,[6] who called it "a massacre"[24]

The attack on al-Wehda Street directly brought down three residential buildings belonging to the Abu al-Ouf and al-Qawlaq families.[20][6] In total, 46 people living in these buildings died. In addition to demolishing the residential buildings, the attack left many buildings surrounding al-Wehda damaged, including a clinic that treated trauma and burns.[4]

The airstrikes on al-Wehda Street also caused major damage to infrastructure which subsequently obstructed the primary access point to al-Shifa Hospital.[6][5]

When queried by Associated Press, the Israeli military did not respond when asked what bombs were used in the al-Wehda Street strikes.[21]

Gaza police suggest that it is likely that GBU-31s packed with 430 kilograms of explosives were responsible for the attack on the al-Qawlaq homes and the al-Wehda attack. This bomb is the heaviest used by militaries on a regular basis, used both for large buildings and underground targets, as it is designed to carry a powerful blast. Consequently, careful intelligence and surveillance is necessary before carrying out an attack with such weapons, as the devastation is typically severe and wide-reaching within civilian areas. At least four of these bombs were dropped close to the apartment buildings.[21][9] According to Gaza police investigations on the bomb fragments from al-Wehda Street, two had serial numbers "76301", identifying them as having been manufactured by Boeing in the United States.[9] In a statement in response to questions about the bombing, Boeing said, "In accordance with U.S. law, the U.S. government authorizes and provides strict oversight for all defense exports."[21]

Israeli military footage shows IDF troops loading Mark-80 series bombs, loaded with American-made Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM guidance kits), which allow bombs to strike with precision using GPS.[9]

• Drone video shows the destruction in Gaza