US-Made bomb used in Israel’s deadly Gaza school strike

A Sky News investigation has uncovered evidence that an American-made bomb was used in yesterday’s Israeli strike on a school in Nuseirat refugee camp, a town in the central Gaza Strip. The attack, which occurred overnight, claimed the lives of 40 people, including 14 children. An additional 23 children were reported to have been wounded in the strike, taking the total dead and injured to nearly 200,000.

Experts consulted by Sky News identified a fragment visible in a verified video as part of an American-made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). Rahul Udoshi, a weapons specialist at the defence intelligence company Janes, and Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, both concluded that the fragment was from a GBU-39 bomb.

The GBU-39 is a guided glide bomb designed for precise, targeted attacks and is manufactured in the US. According to the Sipri Arms Transfers Database, 1,000 GBU-39 bombs were sent to Israel in late 2023, with the delivery expedited by Boeing following the 7 October attack.

Read: US-made bombs scattered among Gaza’s ruins

The Sky News investigation also debunked false claims circulating on social media suggesting that a weapon from India was used in the strike. The object in question, clearly stamped with the word “INDIA,” was identified as a “Screw In Bell Box Hole Plug” and not a component of any military hardware.

US-manufactured munition was also employed in the lethal Israeli air strike on refugees sheltering in tents in Rafah, last week. Images of burned children and families emerging from bombed tents from the Israeli strike sparked shock and outrage. The air strike killed at least 45 people and injured nearly 250.

Sky’s investigation is the latest by a mainstream Western media outlet to expose horrific human rights abuse. In May, CNN uncovered details of gruesome details of abuse, torture, and mistreatment of Palestinians held at Israel’s  Sde Teiman detention facility.

Yesterday the New York Times, revealed even more horrific images with reports of Palestinians in detention being subjected to rape. According to the Times, a female officer had ordered two soldiers to lift a Palestinian detainee and press his rectum against a metal stick that was fixed to the ground. The stick penetrated his rectum for roughly five seconds, causing it to bleed and leaving him with “unbearable pain.”