US-made munitions used in Israeli strike on Gaza school that killed 22, experts say

Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Allegra Goodwin and Eyad Kourdi, CNN
·3 min read
340

Weapons experts have identified the remnants of two US-made munitions used in an Israeli missile strike Sunday on a school in central Gaza that according to local authorities killed at least 22 people.

Hundreds were taking refuge at the former school in Nuseirat when it was struck by two missiles.

CNN video from the scene Sunday showed an ambulance at the school, as people frantically searched through the rubble and destroyed makeshift shelters in the schoolyard.

A man interviewed by a CNN stringer at the scene said there had been no warning. “We are pulling a hand here and a leg there from under the rubble. Civilians who did nothing wrong.”

The man echoed what many in Gaza have said in recent days amid instructions from the Israeli military for civilians to leave certain zones in central and southern Gaza, saying: “We are displaced and we will stay here. If he wants to hit more, let him hit. We are staying, even if he wants to destroy all of Gaza and build a new one and call it Netanyahu’s Gaza, we are staying.”

Abdul Kareem Al Assas, a resident of Nuseirat, voiced his despair. “Where should we go? You tell us where to go and we will. This is genocide. Why are the Arab countries silent? Don’t give us food and water; we need safety… Are there resistance fighters here? There are only women, children, and elderly.”

Tayseer Al Kilani, whose family was also taking refuge at the school, said: “We all ran away. Then my son came carrying my grandson, who was injured and taken to Al Aqsa hospital. Then another missile hit. Netanyahu is targeting UNRWA schools.”

In its statement on the strike, the IDF said that the Israeli Air Force struck “a number of terrorists who were operating in the area of UNRWA’s Abu Oraiban School building in Nuseirat. This location served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out.”

CNN is unable to verify independently whether Hamas operatives were present at the site.

Weapons researchers contacted by CNN were able to identify parts of the missiles used in the attack.

Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at Armament Research Services (ARES), cautioned that “Many pieces are too damaged to allow for a positive ID.”

But one image, he said, featured “distinctive screw housings, fin slots, and the internal mechanism of a GBU-39’s tail section.” The GBU-39 is a 250lb small-diameter guided air-to-surface munition made by Boeing.

Trevor Ball, who was a senior explosive ordnance disposal team member in the US Army, agreed that the images likely showed part of the fin of a small-diameter bomb.

Ball told CNN there were also fragments of a US-made Hellfire missile at the site, including the top of the guidance system.

“It’s likely there was a different munition involved as well, as there is minimal damage on the rooftop from the later strike from what pictures I saw.”

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com