reverse question: Why does everyone assume that only one missile is justified per target? I think this line of reasoning came out of the "double tap" strikes used in Gaza where a five to 30m wait allowed a crowd to gather.

What was the time between hits in this case?

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culi a day ago | parent | next [-]

The first strike heavily damaged the building. Teachers and surviving students rushed to a prayer hall for protection but about 40 minutes after the first strike, a US airstrike hit again and killed all survivors.

A double-tap strike is often legal basis for war crimes already as the primary purpose is to hit first responders and avoid any survivors being saved.

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mahboi a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Because the first missile kills the intended targets. So the second one is implied to be for whoever comes to pick up the bodies.

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jvanderbot a day ago | parent | next [-]

That is the colloquial definition of a double tap.

That is not automatically the case whenever two missiles strike a target.

The "follow up" hit requires a delay. The delay is not accidental - you want to give time for a crowd to gather.

All targets in the area received >= 1 missile, and all somewhat close together, from the NYT analysis.

	▲	culi a day ago \| parent [-]
		Well that's exactly what happened. US hit the building and many died. All the surviving students and teachers rushed to a prayer hall for protection but almost exactly 40 minutes later US airplanes (not surface missiles) hit the building again. All of these facts are outlined in US' own internal investigation and in the UN's fact-finding mission.

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culi a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's not missiles. US' own investigations show it was hit by aircraft

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echoangle a day ago | parent [-]

That’s not a contradiction, since missiles are one of the weapon types carried by aircraft. Unless you mean it was literally hit by aircraft in a sense that aircraft were flown into the building.

	▲	mahboi 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I thought that meant the aircraft flew into it

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AnimalMuppet a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Does the first missile kill the targets? Do the launchers know, for sure, before they launch the second?

Or are they launching two for redundancy, like often happens in military situations? Planes and missiles can break down or get shot down. If you want the target destroyed, you send more than one.

	▲	mahboi a day ago \| parent [-]
		Actually, I agree about the timing if you're right that it was minutes apart (which I haven't confirmed). Hate to say it this way, but they did kill the initial targets, not first responders. The targets were school children maybe negligently flagged as military, but that's separate from the double-tap strategy itself. It is different when they wait longer, which you mentioned was happening in Gaza. IDF waited for paramedics to arrive before striking again.

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laimewhisps a day ago | parent | prev [-]

There should be zero bombs falling on schools.