Recent audio forensic analysis has provided critical insights into the events leading up to the deaths of 15 emergency workers in Gaza. Experts, including Robert Maher from Montana State University, have examined recordings from the incident, which occurred during an Israeli military operation. Their conclusions show that Israeli soldiers fired over a hundred shots. The gunfire varied by distance throughout the attack—often toward the building, outward from it.
The analysis indicates that at the beginning of the recorded footage, a firearm discharged approximately 43 meters away from the mobile phone capturing the sounds. Maher explained that when a bullet is fired, it produces two distinct sounds: a sonic crack from the bullet itself and a pop as the sound travels to the microphone.
“The time gap between the two sounds implies the firearm was about 43 meters away,” Maher stated. Moreover, as he detailed it, the average bullet moves extremely fast, with speeds up to 800 meters per second. For comparison, sound travels at just over 343 m/s, producing this result. The farther away a firearm is from the microphones, the longer the delay between these two sharp sounds is.
Within the first two seconds of the audio recording, the sharp rhythmic timing of the crack-pop register of the first few gunshots clocks in at around 72 milliseconds. At closer distances, these two sounds can become almost indistinguishable to human ears. This scattershot approach further complicates the already challenging task of precise analysis without the aid of advanced technology.
As the audio continues, Maher and other gunfire dynamics expert Steven Beck started to notice a shift. Beck further observed, “The shooter(s) at these times is much closer, with distances ranging between 12 to 18 meters. The most surreal and perhaps the definitive sound is an odd pop that turns out to be a bullet puncturing a tire. This transition marks a more violent stage of the shoot, with multiple rounds of automatic gunfire.
The specialists donned that during the entire five-minute recording, numerous weapons had been fired on the similar time. Maher emphasized this point by stating, “The sounds are often overlapping in such a way that it is clear multiple firearms are in use at the same time.”
During the recording, gunfire hit as near as 12 yards (11 meters) from the audio recorder’s microphone began to make its way in. This close quarters sends a message of vulnerability. It’s a reminder of the hostile environment that emergency workers, including physicians, faced under direct threat while trying to assist those affected. Beck further articulated the implications of this close-range fire: “The shockwaves indicate that the bullets are passing close to the recorder microphone—meaning they are being shot at.”
The investigation into this audio evidence sheds light on the chaotic environment faced by emergency responders during this tragic incident. Taken collectively, these eyewitness accounts and recorded evidence illustrate a highly dangerous and tense situation. Emergency workers heroically attempted to perform their life-saving duties while under gunfire from all directions.
People on the audio recording, probably speaking in Hebrew, explicitly yell, “You all return!” This implies that within all of the fighting and destruction, they were still directing traffic.
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