Brussels – According to an exclusive by the Guardian, Europe’s largest missile manufacturer, MBDA, sells key components for bombs that have been shipped by the thousands to Israel and used in numerous air strikes that killed Palestinian children and other civilians, according to research. This European company is part of a group that comprises Britain’s largest defense company, BAE Systems, France’s Airbus, and Italy’s Leonardo.
As concerns grow over the extent to which European companies might profit from the devastation in Palestine, an investigation by the Guardian, in collaboration with independent newsrooms Disclose and Follow the Money, examined the supply chain of the GBU-39 bomb and its use during the conflict.
MBDA has a factory in the United States, which produces the ‘wings’ that are fitted to the GBU-39, manufactured by Boeing. They unfold after their launch, allowing the bomb to be guided to its target.
The revenues of the US company MBDA Incorporated go through MBDA UK, based in England, which then transfers any profits to the MBDA Group, based in France. Last year, the company distributed dividends of nearly 350 million pounds (400 million euros) to its three shareholders.
In September, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended certain arms export licenses to Israel, citing the risk of “serious violations” of international humanitarian law. Lammy stated that the move was designed to target “items which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza.”
Using open-source information and analysis by weapons experts, the Guardian investigation verified 24 cases where GBU-39s were used in attacks that resulted in civilian deaths. Each one included children among the fatalities. Many of the attacks occurred at night, without warning, in school buildings and tent camps where displaced families were sheltering. A number were investigated by the United Nations and the humanitarian group Amnesty International, which flagged them as suspected war crimes.
Cases verified in 2023 suggest that the Israeli army dramatically scaled up its use of GBU-39s in 2024. One of the most devastating attacks occurred on the night of May 26, 2024, when jets bombed Kuwait Peace Camp 1 in Rafah, triggering a fire that set rows of tents alight. A toddler and a woman were decapitated by fragments of the explosive, Amnesty reported. The Gaza Health Ministry counted 45 dead and 249 wounded.
“The GBU-39s have been used a lot to target schools and areas where other people are sheltering,” said Trevor Ball, an associate at Armaments Research Services, which receives some funding from the EU.
Of the verified attacks, 16 were against schools. Although the buildings no longer function as educational facilities, they have become places of shelter for the displaced population of Palestine. The other attacks targeted tent camps, family homes, and a mosque during morning prayers.
Despite strong words and threats of further sanctions after Israel broke the ceasefire in March, and the United Nations conclusion according to which “the methods of warfare in Gaza are consistent with genocide, European leaders have taken no further steps to prevent domestic arms companies from profiting.”
In a report last month, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, examined corporate profits from the conflict. She concluded that: “This report shows why the Israeli-led genocide continues: because it is profitable for many.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
