GAZA CITY — At least 2,842 Palestinians have simply vanished from existence since October 2023, their bodies transformed into biological vapor by weapons so powerful they don’t merely kill, they erase, according to a disturbing Al Jazeera investigation that has intensified genocide accusations against Israel, according to NDTV.
Gaza’s Civil Defence teams describe entering bombed homes where entire families lived, only to find partial remains and gruesome evidence painted across walls: blood spray patterns, fragments of scalp, but no intact bodies to account for the missing. The forensic accounting is macabre but methodical.
“If a family tells us five people were inside and we recover only three bodies, we treat the remaining two as ‘evaporated’ after exhaustive searches yield nothing but biological traces,” explained Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.
The culprit, investigators claim, are thermobaric weapons also called vacuum bombs or fuel air explosives munitions that generate temperatures reaching 3,500 degrees Celsius combined with crushing pressure waves that literally boil human tissue from the inside.
Unlike conventional explosives, these weapons disperse clouds of flammable fuel that mix with atmospheric oxygen before ignition, creating prolonged fireballs capable of penetrating buildings and tunnels. The blast wave hunts victims in enclosed spaces, making them particularly devastating in Gaza’s densely packed urban neighborhoods.
The investigation identified specific American-manufactured munitions allegedly deployed: the MK-84 two thousand pound bomb using tritonal, a TNT and aluminum powder mixture generating extreme heat along with BLU-109 bunker busters and GBU-39 precision bombs designed to maintain structural exteriors while incinerating interiors.
“When exposed to energy exceeding 3,000 degrees combined with massive pressure, bodily fluids boil instantly,” explained Dr. Munir al-Bursh, Gaza’s Health Ministry Director General. “Tissues vaporize and turn to ash. It is chemically inevitable.”
Military expert Vasily Fatigarov was blunter: these weapons “do not just kill; they obliterate matter.”
While thermobaric weapons aren’t explicitly banned under international law, human rights organizations argue their use in civilian areas violates principles of distinction and proportionality. Russia faced similar accusations for deploying them in Ukraine.
Lawyer Diana Buttu, speaking in Doha, traced responsibility beyond Israel to Western suppliers: “This is global genocide. We see continuous weapon flows from America and Europe. They know these weapons don’t distinguish between fighters and children.”
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts, while the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel rejects genocide accusations, maintaining its operations target Hamas militants following the October 7 attacks.
Israel has not publicly addressed the thermobaric allegations. Meanwhile, nearly three thousand families search for loved ones who may exist now only as ash and memory.
