At least one bomb used in the Israeli attack that killed dozens of people, including women and children, on a United Nations school building on Thursday appeared to have been made in the United States, according to a weapons expert and videos reviewed by The New York. Times.
The school, located in Nuseirat in central Gaza, was being used as a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians. The Israeli military said it had attacked classrooms occupied by Palestinian militants, although it did not provide evidence for this claim.
A video of ammunition remains, filmed by Palestinian journalist Emad Abu Shawiesh, shows remains of a GBU-39 bomb, designed and manufactured by Boeing. The use of this weapon in the attack was first reported by CNN.
The images were uploaded to Instagram shortly after 4 a.m. in Gaza on Thursday, about two and a half hours after the attack was reported on Telegram, a messaging app. The Times, using details seen on videos, confirmed that the remains of the weapon were filmed at the UN school.
Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, identified the part of the weapon seen in the images as the tip of a GBU-39. “This distinctive tip is exclusive to the GBU-39 series of ammunition and, due to its solid construction, can survive the explosion intact,” he said.
Holes visible on several floors of the UN complex also suggest the use of a smaller precision-guided munition such as the GBU-39, Ball added.
The school was previously attacked on May 14, when Israel said it had killed 15 militants there; It is possible that some of the damage or even the nose tip of GBU-39 seen on Thursday was caused by that hit. But multiple videos filmed after the strike showed mattresses, clothing and food cans covered in debris near the strike zone in one of the classrooms, indicating the damage was new. In one of these videos, a man can be seen recovering body parts of those who were murdered and holding an amputated finger towards him. camera.
The Israeli military said its warplanes had attacked three classrooms in a school building housing between 20 and 30 Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militia also backed by Iran. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said militants had used the compound to plan attacks against Israeli forces, although he did not provide specific examples.
The compound attacked had been operated by UNRWA, the main UN agency helping Palestinians in Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, wrote on social media that 6,000 Palestinians had taken refuge in the school complex.
Khalil Daqran, spokesman for Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah, said the bodies of at least 40 people killed in the attack had been brought to the hospital. At least some of the victims were women, children and elderly people, he added, although he did not want to give a precise figure.
Colonel Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said he was “not aware of any civilian casualties” as a result of the attack.
U.S. officials have been encouraging the Israeli military for months to use GBU-39s, which weigh at least 250 pounds, instead of larger 2,000-pound bombs because they are generally more accurate. But this is the second time in less than two weeks that dozens of Palestinians have been killed by this specific type of bomb. On May 26, 45 people were killed in another displaced persons camp, also by GBU-39 bombs.
Wes Bryant, a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant and targeting expert who served on a task force critical of Israel’s use of weapons in Gaza, told the Times that precision and low collateral intent of these bombs were undermined if not used correctly.
“Even though they use smaller bombs, they are still deliberately targeting places where they know there are civilians,” Bryant said. “The only thing they’ve done by going from 2,000-pound bombs to 250-pound bombs is kill a few fewer civilians.”
Nader Ibrahim contributed reports. Ainara Tiefenthäler Contributed to video production.