Israel is testing "nasty" bombs on Gaza: doctors

Two medics who were sent into the Gaza war zone by the Norweigan aid organization NORWAC said they had seen clear signs that Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME), an experimental kind of explosive, were being used by Israel.

"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, 61, who was sent to the war-torn region on on Dec. 31.

"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.

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.

Israel should disclose what weapons they use and the international community should make an investigation...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

Dr Mads Gilbert

Night cameras seized

In related news, Israel said it was investigating how a night-vision security camera and other electronics ended up on humanitarian aid trucks bound for Gaza.

The equipment was seized at the Kerem Shalom border crossing before entering the coastal enclave along with truckloads of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, said defense official Peter Lerner.

Photographs taken by Reuters showed the boxes contained at least one infra-red camera, a remote control unit for security cameras and a swivel-mount for such a camera, along with other devices and software.

"Of course we can't let night-vision items get into the hands of Hamas," Lerner said. "This was not on the list and was not approved. We're investigating it."

He said it was not yet clear who was trying to bring the equipment into Gaza.

More than 900 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting and international aid groups say already poor humanitarian conditions for Gaza's 1.5 million residents have sharply deteriorated.