US munitions used in Israeli strike on Gaza UN school: report

An Israeli attack on a UN-run school in central Gaza that killed 40 people was conducted using US-manufactured weapons, according to a report.

According to Al-Jazeera, fragments of the munition used in the strike can be traced back to US manufacturer Honeywell, after the publication analysed the serial number found on a fragment from the munition.

The fragment left by the munition had the serial number HG1930BA06, with the HG1930 part of the code referring to the specific sensor made by the company.

A component with the same manufacturer part number was found following an Israeli strike on a house in Shujayea, Gaza, in 2014.

Honeywell designs sensors and guidance systems, with their devices being used in US-made weaponry. Al Jazeera said they have yet to receive comment from the company.

The attack on the UN-run al-Sardi school in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp killed 40 people, including at least three women, nine children and 21 men, with a further 74 people wounded.

In a State Department report released on 10 May, the US said that although it is reasonable to assess” that Israeli security forces have used US weapons to violate international humanitarian law, it it added that there was not enough evidence to link specific weapons to violations.

It has since been claimed by former State Department member Stacy Gilbert, who contributed to the report, that parts of the report were falsified.

Doctors have been scrambling to help the wounded & dead after Israeli airstrikes on a UNWRA school in al-Nuseirat killed at least 40 Palestinians - mostly women & children.

Gaza's govt media office rejected Israel's claims that the school had hidden a Hamas command post pic.twitter.com/va5dhqfmgv

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) June 6, 2024

Following the strike, director of planning for the UN's Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA), Sam Rose, said that strikes of this nature had become "normalised".

"We've seen this time and time again, to the extent that it's almost become normalised. In previous conflicts, single incidents like this would cause shock and outrage and would be remembered forever," he said.

He added: "Whereas it seems in this conflict this one will be replaced by another in a few days' time unless it all comes to an end. So, it almost becomes commonplace and mundane that these things are happening. We have normalised horror."

Rose claims that 6,000 people had been sheltering in the facility when the airstrike hit in the middle of the night.

Israel's war on Gaza, which began eight months ago, has killed 36,731 Palestinians and wounded a further 83,530.