By Diego Ramos / Original to ScheerPost
A CNN report revealed that Israel used American made munitions in Sunday’s deadly strike on the displacement camp in Rafah. Scenes of the assault, which killed at least 45 people and injured hundreds more, have spread across social media, showing burned bodies, beheaded children and civilians frantically attempting to escape.
According to the CNN analysis, the attack occurred at “Kuwait Peace Camp 1.” Videos shared on social media enabled reporters to identify the tail of a GBU-39 small diameter bomb, a U.S.-made weapon manufactured by Boeing. The analysis also revealed serial numbers on the bomb remnants, tracing the manufacturer of certain components to facilities in California.
CNN spoke to several weapons experts and veterans regarding the bomb’s identification as a Boeing GBU-39. According to Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member:
“The warhead portion [of the munition] is distinct, and the guidance and wing section is extremely unique compared to other munitions. Guidance and wing sections of munitions are often the remnants left over even after a munition detonates. I saw the tail actuation section and instantly knew it was one of the SDB/GBU-39 variants.”
Chris Cobb-Smith, an explosive weapons expert and former British Army artillery officer, told CNN that the GBU-39 is a high-precision munition but “using any munition, even of this size, will always incur risks in a densely populated area.”
Richard Weir, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, and Chris Lincoln-Jones, a former British Army artillery officer and weapons and targeting expert also identified the fragments of the U.S.-made GBU-39 for CNN.
Despite pledging to stop supplying weapons “if they go into Rafah,” President Joe Biden is not expected to alter his support for Israel.
The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the attack. “Some diplomats,” according to an Associated Press report, hope a vote on a resolution calling for a cease-fire and a halt to Israel’s assault on southern Gaza could happen on Wednesday.
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Diego Ramos
Diego Ramos, ScheerPost Special Projects Editor and New York bureau chief, is a journalist from Queens, NY. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has previously worked at BuzzFeed News and was managing editor of Annenberg News at USC. He’s covered and researched myriad topics including war, politics, psychedelic research and sports.
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