This is an area in Gaza where, for weeks, civilians fled to find safety. [explosions] These are 2,000-pound bombs, one of the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals. When a 2,000-pound bomb detonates, it unleashes a blast wave and metal fragments thousands of feet in every direction. [non-English speech] Sometimes, 2,000-pound bombs leave giant craters in the earth, like this strike in south Gaza in November. [non-English speech] [non-English speech] [non-English speech] [non-English speech] [non-English speech] [non-English speech] Munitions experts say 2,000-pound bombs are almost never used by the U.S. military anymore in densely populated areas. [non-English speech] Israel says it must destroy Hamas above and below ground to prevent terrorist attacks like Oct. 7 — [shouting] — and claims it’s taking extraordinary measures to protect civilians. But a Times investigation using aerial imagery and artificial intelligence found visual evidence suggesting Israel used these munitions in the area it designated safe for civilians at least 200 times. Our analysis indicates 2,000-pound bombs were dropped on a routine basis in south Gaza during the first six weeks of the war. And it suggests that even for those who followed every Israeli evacuation order and advisory, there was still no safety to be found in a war zone that’s more dangerous for civilians than any in recent history. Amplifying the danger are many factors. Hamas intentionally uses dense civilian areas to position military personnel and weapons. [explosion] Buried underground are vast tunnel networks used by Hamas fighters, but no bomb shelters for civilians. When the war started, Israel completely sealed off Gaza’s borders and claimed it was going to keep civilians out of the crossfire by establishing a safe zone and issuing evacuation orders. By air, phone — [non-English speech] — and social media, over a million people living in northern Gaza were told they must move to the south to be safe. “The I.D.F. is calling for the people of Gaza to evacuate to southern Gaza.” “To go south.” “South of this river.” [non-English speech] “Move south. For your own safety, move south.” But the evacuation routes and the safe zone were anything but safe. [non-English speech] How often the attacks were launched by Hamas is unclear. [non-English speech] But visual evidence indicates Israel was dropping 2,000-pound bombs in the area it was ordering civilians to go. The Times programmed an artificial intelligence tool to analyze satellite imagery of south Gaza to search for bomb craters. The A.I. tool detected over 1,600 possible craters. We manually reviewed each one to weed out the false positives, like shadows, water towers or bomb craters from a previous conflict. We measured the remaining craters to find ones that spanned roughly 40 feet across or more, which experts say are typically formed only by 2,000-pound bombs. Ultimately, we identified 208 of these craters in satellite imagery and drone footage, indicating 2,000-pound bombs posed a pervasive threat to civilians seeking safety across south Gaza. It’s likely that more of these bombs were used than what was captured in our reporting. Because of limited satellite imagery, our analysis omits parts of south Gaza. And military experts say that often, depending on the target, fuse and type of soil, a 2,000-pound bomb may not leave a crater at all. Even bomb craters that are visible from the sky do not convey the destruction unleashed on the ground. This crater in central Khan Younis was from an airstrike in October. [shouting] More than a dozen people were reportedly killed. Scores were injured or buried under the rubble. Hours later, Israel took responsibility, posting video of the strike and a photo of the alleged target — a top Hamas official they said was key in planning the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has said it must take out Hamas leaders no matter where they’re hiding. “Our goal — and we’re taking extraordinary efforts to achieve it — is to minimize civilian casualties. This is our ethos. And here’s the problem: We’re faced with the most vicious kind of enemy, who not only attacks civilians, but commits the other war crime of deliberately hiding behind their civilians. They use them as human shields.” In response to questions about the use of 2,000-pound bombs in south Gaza, an Israeli military spokesman told The Times that Israel’s priority is destroying Hamas, and, quote, “questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage.” They also said that, quote, “in stark contrast to Hamas’s intentional attacks,” the I.D.F., quote, “follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.” But the U.S. says Israel must do more to avoid civilian casualties. The Pentagon recently increased shipments of a smaller bomb called the GBU-39, which U.S. officials say can strike underground targets and is better suited to urban environments like Gaza. The GBU-39, one of the smallest bombs in Israel’s arsenal, has the explosive power of 37 pounds of TNT. Compare that to the Mark 84, a 2,000-pound bomb which has 25 times more explosive power. When a GBU-39 detonates on impact, its blast wave can injure or kill people in open areas over 1,000 feet away in every direction. The danger from a Mark 84’s blast wave stretches almost three times further. For both, even more danger comes from the fragmentation — [explosion] — the metal shards of the bomb casings that can shoot out hundreds of feet from the point of impact. [shouting and sirens] The GBU-39 is still deadly, but overall, it’s much less destructive. U.S. officials told The Times that the I.D.F. has many more 2,000-pound bombs in its arsenal. They said Israel is heavily relying on them because they’re more effective than the smaller bombs at destroying Hamas’s tunnel network as fast as possible. The officials also said that in the Gaza war, Israel has demonstrated a higher tolerance than the U.S. military for causing civilian casualties. But the U.S. has not stopped supplying weapons to Israel. Since the war in Gaza began, the U.S. has sent more than 5,000 2,000-pound bombs. [non-English speech] [crying] [non-English speech] In December, Israel announced it was expanding combat operations to south Gaza, and started issuing a new kind of evacuation order targeting neighborhoods, including some in areas previously deemed safe, like this one in Khan Younis. Hours later, 2,000-pound bombs were raining down. [somber music playing] [explosions and glass shattering]