US airstrike on Qeshm island home kills family, uses 2,000-pound bomb

Analysis of video, photographic and satellite data indicates that the United States dropped a Mark-84 2,000-pound bomb on a family home in Qeshm island, Iran, during the night of July 30. The explosion, which left a crater roughly nine metres across, killed Zahra Jafari, her husband Qeysar Jafari, a taxi driver, and their two-year-old son Sina; two other children were rescued from the rubble and are hospitalized in stable condition.

The strike occurred in the densely built Chah-Tangu neighbourhood, displacing around twenty adjacent households and damaging structures up to 60 metres away. US Central Command confirmed it was investigating civilian casualty reports but did not specify the intended target, the weapon type, or precautions taken. The attack was part of a broader US response to earlier Iranian strikes on a Jordanian base used by US forces. Experts note that using such a large bomb in a populated area raises serious concerns under international humanitarian law.