Audio Ballistics

Some of our most notable work involves the analysis of gunfire. Solely from the sound of gunshots, we can effectively deduce information about the shooter’s location, movements, the number of shooters, and the direction in which the bullets are travelling. We achieve this through various analytical methods, including measuring the time interval between the shot and its echo, determining the distance between the bullet’s sonic crack breaking the sound barrier and the boom of the muzzle blast, analysing the time differences when a shot is recorded at two or more positions, studying the decay rate of a shot, and conducting detailed comparative spectral analyses to examine the acoustic behaviour of a given shot across the frequency spectrum.

Case Study: The killing of Ameen Sameer Khalifa at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Aid Site

On June 3rd, 2025, Ameen Sameer Khalifa was killed by Israeli military fire while waiting for food at a GHF aid site in Gaza. He recorded the moment he came under fire. Two days earlier, on June 1st, Ameen made another recording in which gunshots can be heard.

For the Middle East Eye, Earshot analysed the audio from both recordings to identify the type of weaponry used and the position of the shooter. Our audio ballistic evidence corroborates eyewitness accounts and satellite imagery, determining that Ameen was highly likely killed by a FN MAG 7.62mm machine gun mounted on an Israeli tank positioned at a military outpost — established just days earlier near the remains of the Muawiya Mosque in Rafah.

Case Study: Targeting of civilians in Khan Yunis

On the 22nd of January in Khan Yunis, Gaza, four civilians were fired upon while holding a white flag and walking with their hands in the air. Ramzi Abu Sahloul was killed. Earshot’s audio ballistic evidence confirms eyewitness testimony: the civilians were targeted by two or more shooters in the Israeli Army vehicles positioned 330 metres to the East of the cameras’ location.