Israel avoids naming US-made bombs in Rafah attack to spare Biden admin embarrassment: Analysis

The New York Times reports that the bombs employed in the Israeli airstrike in Rafah, resulting in the deaths of at least 45 people on Sunday, were manufactured in the United States. According to the report, weapons experts analyzed visual evidence from debris found at the site, uncovering remnants of a GBU-39 bomb originating from the US. Omar Ashour, a professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, suggested that Israel's military likely refrained from specifying the precise bomb used in the attack on the Rafah tent encampment to avoid "embarrassing" the administration of US President Biden. Despite being labelled as "precision-guided," Ashour noted that GBU-39 bombs are "not always accurate," hitting their target only 80 to 90 percent of the time. He further emphasized that these bombs can miss "by a significant margin," resulting in extensive civilian casualties in densely populated areas like Rafah. Ashour highlighted the troubling nature of continuing to deploy such weapons, given the significant risk to innocent lives.