American-made 2,000-pound bombs likely used in attack that killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, CNN analysis finds

CNN-

American-made 2,000-pound bombs were likely used in the Israeli attack that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut Friday night, according to an analysis of footage showing the operation and its aftermath by CNN and ammunition experts.

A video released Saturday by the Israeli military shows jets it says were used to carry out the attack and carried at least 15 2,000-pound bombs, including the American-made BLU-109, according to Trevor Ball , former senior technician in explosive munitions for the Israeli army. the American army which viewed the images for CNN.

The bombs, known colloquially as bunker busters for their ability to penetrate deep underground before exploding, were also equipped with the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), an American-made precision guidance kit that converts bombs not guided, or stupid, into intelligent munitions capable of precisely hitting a target according to Ball. On one bomb-equipped plane, pictured taking off in the video, Ball identified at least four as BLU-109s equipped with JDAM kits.

Other types of large bombs may have been used in the operation, Ball added, but only BLU-109s were visible in the footage. The munitions contain 535 pounds of explosives, significantly less than the MK84, another type of 2,000-pound bomb frequently used by the Israeli military. BLU-109s give up their explosive weight so they can penetrate targets better than an MK84, Ball said.

Videos and geotagged images by CNN from the scene of the attack in Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, show a large, deep crater surrounded by rubble from destroyed buildings. A CNN analysis of video and satellite imagery confirmed that four multi-story buildings were razed in the attack.

Two senior Israeli defense officials told the New York Times that 80 bombs were used in the attack on Nasrallah. Ball told CNN that this figure was plausible but difficult to determine based solely on available images of the crater. It is possible that there were other similar craters in which the debris of the building collapsed and filled. It is also unclear how deep and extensive the underground facilities were. This makes a reliable estimate of the number of munitions used extremely difficult, he said.

Justin Bronk, a senior fellow in air power and technology at the Royal United Services Institute in London, who also analyzed images for CNN, said the Israeli Air Force planes carried JDAM guidance kits and that the crater left behind after the strike. was consistent with the use of 2,000-pound BLU-109 bombs.

[It] This matches the strike profile, penetrating fuze settings and large warhead required to produce this type of crater, Bronk said. He added that the combination of the BLU-109 bomb and the JDAM kit was what one would expect to take on a buried and hardened target like that.

The Israeli army has not released images showing the moment it dropped the bombs, but videos circulating on social media on Friday showed huge explosions in Dahiyeh, where the attack was carried out on the neighborhood Nasrallah's clandestine general. Bronk told CNN that the numerous plumes of smoke seen in one of the videos were consistent with multiple, near-simultaneous impacts from 2,000-pound bombs, whose fuses were set to explode underground.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Brig. Gen. Amichai Levin, commander of Israel's Hatzerim Air Base, said dozens of munitions hit the target in seconds with very high precision, adding that this was what was needed to reach these underground depths.

The Israeli military has repeatedly used 2,000-pound bombs during its deadly campaign in Gaza. Weapons and warfare experts blame the massive use of these heavy munitions for the enormous death toll.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and injured more than 96,000 others, according to the latest figures from the Health Ministry. Israel launched its ground offensive and aerial bombardment on the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

The use of 2,000-pound bombs, which are mostly made by the United States, can cause high casualties, in part because of the enormous magnitude of their impact. The weapon's blast, or lethal fragmentation radius, a zone of exposure to injury or death around the target, can reach 365 meters (about 1,198 feet), the equivalent of 58 fields of soccer.

In May, the Biden administration said it had suspended sending bombs to Israel over concerns about their potential use in the Rafah incursion and their risk of harm to civilians.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon continued at a steady pace throughout the weekend, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 350 others in the country on Sunday. The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah, including launching warplane attacks on about 45 targets near a village in southern Lebanon.

At least 12 sites in Beirut were hit between Friday and early Monday morning, according to a CNN analysis. An attack destroyed one floor of a building next to the city's Cola intersection, a major transport hub in central Beirut, marking the first time a location within the capital's limits has been hit in nearly a year of conflict.

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