Israel-Gaza live updates: Weapons used in deadly Rafah attack could be US-made, experts say

Evidence indicates that a weapon used by Israel in the Rafah attack – which killed 50 people and injured 249 others – on May 26 appears to have been made by a US company, two weapons experts say who examined photos and videos of fragments present on the site. told ABC News.

The weapons fragments seen in the video match a U.S.-made “small diameter bomb,” which includes the GBU-39/B, or B/B. These types of SDB/GBU-39 weapons can carry a 37-pound warhead, which is consistent with IDF statements about the weapons used in the strike, said Trevor Ball, a former explosive ordnance disposal specialist and US Army munitions.

“We used two small rockets, with a warhead of 17 kg, which were fired from an aircraft to strike precisely. We have used this type of ammunition before,” said the Israeli army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, to ABC News, asked about weapons. were used during the strike.

Ball identified a series of numbers beginning with “81873” marked on a fragment seen in the video reviewed by ABC News. This is the Commercial and Government Entity Code, or CAGE code, assigned by the U.S. government to Colorado-based aerospace manufacturing company Woodward. , according to US government records.

A second former U.S. military explosive ordnance disposal specialist confirmed that the fragments matched the GBU-39, but asked not to be named by ABC News.

All sales of small-diameter GBU-39/B bombs to foreign entities require State Department approval, but a U.S. official says Israel may also have purchased the munitions through direct commercial sales that do not do not reach the value threshold – 25 million dollars in Israel. case – for congressional review and public notification.

In the days following the October 7 attack, Israel rushed to replenish its stockpiles, including its supply of small-diameter bombs, by all means available, the official said. ABC News has not confirmed whether weapons received by Israel after October 7 were used in the Rafah attack on May 26.

Asked whether the bombs used in the attack were supplied by the United States, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said reporters were expected to ask the Israelis during a briefing. press on May 28.

-Chris Looft, Helena Skinner, Britt Clennett, Sohel Uddin, Luis Martinez, Matt Seyler, Shannon Crawford, Ellie Kaufman, Dana Savir, Camilla Alcini, Kerem Inal and Cindy Smith of ABC News