Ilayda Cakirtekin
22 September 2025•Update: 22 September 2025
ISTANBUL
A human rights watchdog noted on Sunday that each Israeli detonation of booby-trapped vehicles is equivalent to a 3.7 magnitude earthquake, causing "disproportionate" destruction.
"Over the past week, the Israeli army has detonated around 120 booby-trapped vehicles carrying nearly 840 tons of explosives in residential areas of Gaza City, an average of more than 17 vehicles per day. Each detonation is equivalent to a 3.7-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale," the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement.
The group described the explosions as the "largest campaign of brute force" aimed at destroying the population as part of Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians.
"Given that nearly all buildings in Gaza have already been damaged or weakened by more than 23 months of continuous bombardment, each new explosion causes disproportionately greater destruction," Euro-Med noted.
The rights group stressed that the Israeli army’s practice of converting out-of-service armored vehicles into remotely detonated explosive charges is "unprecedented in scale and method in modern history."
"Yet this barbaric conduct faces no effective response from the international community, reflecting stark double standards, injustice, and disregard for Palestinian lives," it added.
Euro-Med also said the "catastrophic impact" of these explosions "extends beyond physical destruction and displacement," as they are also used as a "systematic tool of psychological terror."
"International inaction and the complicity of some states have enabled Israel to openly pursue the destruction of Gaza City without even attempting to offer legal pretexts, reinforcing its impunity and undermining the effectiveness of international law in protecting civilians from the gravest crimes, foremost among them genocide," it noted.
The group further reminded that such weapons are classified as "prohibited arms," and their use in populated areas constitutes a "war crime" in itself, as well as a "crime against humanity."
