US intelligence assessment: Israel threw "stupid bombs" at Gaza

US intelligence assessment:

Israel threw "stupid bombs" at Gaza

CNN reported that a new U.S. intelligence assessment revealed that

nearly half of Israel's air-to-ground bombs in Gaza were unguided bombs

known as "stupid bombs."

According to an assessment compiled by the Office of

the Director of National Intelligence

the content of

which was transmitted to CNN by three sources who saw it

about 40-45% of Israel's 29 thousand air-to-ground bombs

were unguided and the rest were precisely targeted munitions.

Unguided bombs are usually less precise

and can pose a greater threat to civilians, especially in a densely

populated area such as Gaza, and the rate at which Israel uses

"stupid bombs" may contribute to the high number of civilian deaths.

In response to

a question for comment on the assessment

Israeli army spokesman Nir Dinar told

CNN:

"We are not addressing the type of bombs used."

Israeli

spokesman Kiren Hagioff said:

"As an army committed to international law

and to the Code of Ethics

we are devoting enormous resources to reducing the harm to

civilians forced by Hamas to play the role of human shields.

our war is against Hamas, not against the population of Gaza ".

But experts told

the United States

network that if Israel was using undirected bombs

at the rate the United States believed it was using

it undermined Israel's claim that

it was trying to minimize civilian casualties.

Brian Castner

a former officer of the Explosive Bomb Disposal Team

who is now Amnesty International's senior crisis adviser on weapons

and military operations

said:

"I am surprised and deeply concerned that

it is bad enough for

weapons to be used when they hit their targets accurately."

A US official told CNN that

his country believes

the Israeli military is using stupid bombs in conjunction

with a tactic called "snorkelling"

or dropping a bomb sharply from a fighter jet

which the official said makes the bombs

more accurate because it brings them closer to their target.

The official added

that the United States believed that

non-guided ammunition dropped by bombing

was similarly accurate to the guided ammunition.