At least one of the bombs used in an Israeli attack on a United Nations school building on Thursday that killed dozens of people, including women and children, appeared to be American-made, according to a weapons expert and videos reviewed by The New York Times.
The school is located in Nusserat in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it targeted classrooms occupied by Palestinian militants but provided no evidence.
Video of munitions debris, Filming Palestinian journalist Emad Abu Shawiesh's report shows the remains of a GBU-39 bomb, designed and built by Boeing. The weapon was used in the attack. CNN first reported.
The video was uploaded to Instagram around 4 a.m. Thursday, about two and a half hours after the attack ended. Reported on the messaging app Telegram. The New York Times used details from the video to confirm that the weapons debris was filmed at the UN school.
Trevor Ball, former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician Identified The weapon part seen in the video is the GBU-39 warhead. “This unique warhead is unique to the GBU-39 series of ammunition, and due to its rugged structure, “It can survive an explosion intact,” he said.
Mr. Power added that bullet holes on several floors inside the UN building also indicated that the attackers had used small precision-guided munitions similar to the GBU-39.
The school was attacked on May 14, when Israel said it had killed 15 militants; some of the damage seen Thursday and even the nose of the GBU-39 may be from that attack. But multiple videos shot after the attack showed mattresses, clothes and food cans covered in rubble in one of the classrooms, suggesting the damage was new. In one video, a man can be seen picking up bodies of victims and holding up a severed finger. camera.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck three classrooms at a school holding 20 to 30 Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militia also backed by Iran. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner claimed that militants had used the compound to plan attacks on Israeli forces, but he did not provide specific examples.
The school compound that was attacked is run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency for Palestinians in Gaza. Filippo Lazzarini, director of UNRWA, wrote on social media that 6,000 Palestinians had been hiding in the school compound.
Khalil Daklan, spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, said the bodies of at least 40 victims had been taken to the hospital. He added that at least some of the victims were women, children and elderly people, but he declined to give specific numbers.
Israeli military spokesman Colonel Lerner said he was “not aware of any civilian casualties as a result of the attack.”
For months, U.S. officials have been encouraging the Israeli military to use the GBU-39, a missile that weighs at least 250 pounds instead of the Larger 2000 lb bomb But it was the second time in less than two weeks that dozens of Palestinians have been killed by this particular type of bomb. On May 26, 45 people were killed in another camp for displaced persons. GBU-39 Bomb.
Wes Bryant is a retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant and targeting expert who served in A working group Critics of Israel’s use of weapons in Gaza told The Times that the bombs’ precision and low collateral consequences would be undermined if used improperly.
“Even though they were using small bombs, they were still deliberately targeting where they knew there were civilians,” Mr. Bryant said. “The only effect of them reducing 2,000-pound bombs to 250-pound bombs was to kill fewer civilians.”
Nadir Ibrahim Contributed reporting. Enara Tiefentheller Contributed to video production.
