Israel-Gaza war live: Fresh attacks on Rafah amid reports that US-made weapons used in strike that led to deadly fire

Journalists in the southern Gaza city report new strikes early Wednesday as NYT says US-made munitions seen in debris after fire in which 45 died

The New York Times (NYT) are reporting that bombs used in an Israeli airstrike that caused a huge blaze at a tented area for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday and killed at least 45 people, were made in the US.

It cites visual evidence reviewed by the NYT and weapon experts. The NYT write:

Munition debris filmed at the strike location the next day was remnants from a GBU-39, a bomb designed and manufactured in the United States, The Times found. US officials have been pushing Israel to use more of this type of bomb, which they say can reduce civilian casualties.”

Trevor Ball, a former US army explosive ordnance disposal technician and one of the experts quoted in the NYT piece, identified the weapon on X.

The NYT quotes Ball in highlighting that a “key detail in the weapon debris was the tail actuation system, which controls the fins that guide the GBU-39 to a target”.

Again quoting Ball, the NYT write that “the weapon’s unique bolt pattern and slot where the folding fins are stowed were clearly visible in the debris”.

The NYT also say that a unique identifier code that links the weapon to an aerospace manufacturer based in Colorado is visible in a video it has viewed that shows munition fragments