US weapons were used in deadly Israeli Rafah strike, say munition experts

New evidence suggests that US munitions were used in Israel’s strike on Rafah on Sunday, according to a recent CNN analysis of a video from the scene.

CNN says they obtained footage of the camp in Rafah in flames, with people rushing to find shelter from the strikes. They also claim the video shows “burned bodies, including those of children, being pulled by rescuers from the wreckage.”

Palestinian media reported that 45 people were killed and 200 injured after the Israeli strike caused a fire to break out. Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian medics claim that most of the victims were women and children.

Weapon experts

CNN geolocated the videos to a displaced person camp called Kuwait Peace Camp 1. They were able to match details in the video, including the sign to the camp and the ground tiles. 

CNN claims that in the video, parts of weapons are visible. They referred to the help of four explosive weapons experts, who identified the tail of a US-made GBU-39 small diameter bomb (SDB) in the image.

The GBU-39, a Boeing munition, is a high-precision munition “designed to attack strategically important point targets,” and result in low collateral damage, explosive weapons expert and former British Army artillery officer Chris Cobb-Smith told CNN on Tuesday. However, Cobb-Smith stressed that use of any such munition carried risks, especially when employed on a densely populated area. 

Expert Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, backed up Cobb-Smith’s identification of the GBU-39.

“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.”

Ball noted that this particular GBU-39 was not the variant known as the Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) which has a larger explosive payload.

The experts told CNN that the serial numbers visible on the fragments of the munitions matched those for a manufacturer of GBU-39 parts based in California. This served as further evidence of the bombs being US-made.

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 – corroborated this with CNN.

The New York Times reports that the US have actually been pushing Israel to use more of this type of bomb, “which they say can reduce civilian casualties.”

“They are generally more precise and better suited to urban environments than larger bombs,” continued the Times, “including US-made 2,000-pound bombs that Israel routinely uses.”

US response 

CNN reached out to the Pentagon for comment; however, deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said, “I’d have to refer you to Israelis” for specifics. 

Singh also emphasized that the US government was not directly involved with the strike: " We're not on the ground, this is not our operation.”

“We are continuing to provide Israel with the weapons it needs to defeat Hamas”, she continued.

White House spokesman told reporters on Wednesday “We’re not going to speak to individual payload loadouts on individual Israeli aircraft.”

Initial findings 

The experts’ identification is consistent with a statement from IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari on Tuesday, who said that two munitions with small warheads of 17 kilos of explosives each had been used to target senior Hamas commanders in an airstrike.

Hagari told reporters that the munitions were the smallest that IAF jets could use. 

The traditional GBU-39 warhead has an explosive payload of 17 kilos, according to Hagari.

Hagari stressed that IDF “munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size” and that the IDF was investigating “what may have caused such a large fire”. He said that the investigation would explore the possibility that the fire started due to the strike accidentally igniting Hamas weapons that were being stored at the compound next to the target.

“It should be noted Hamas has been operating from this area since October 7. Here, on this satellite image 43 meters from the structure we targeted, you can see Hamas rocket launchers.

Hagari added that the IDF was also “assessing footage documented by Gazans on the night of the strike [...] which appear to show secondary explosions indicating that there may have been weapons [that] caught fire.”

Larry Lewis, a former Pentagon and State Department adviser, spoke to the New York Times and said that it seemed Israel had taken steps to mitigate civilian harm.

“Secondary explosions can be hard to anticipate,” Lewis told the Times.

US military aid to Israel

The US is the biggest weapons supplier to Israel, having just signed a bill to provide $15 billion to Israel in military aid last month.

The US Air Force signed a $7.4 billion contract with Boeing on Thursday - the producer of the munitions identified in the Rafah attack - for indefinite provision of JDAM tail kits, spare, repairs and laser JDAM until 2030. These kits turn ‘dumb’ bombs into precision, guided bombs.