Polish company accused of supplying explosives for Israel’s war on Gaza

A Polish state-owned institution has been accused of playing a important relation successful aiding Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza, providing a cardinal explosive utilized successful bombs and artillery that person been wide deployed successful the Strip.

A study released connected Tuesday by a radical of pro-Palestinian organisations recovered the explosives shaper Nitro-Chem to person supplied United States arms companies with trinitrotoluene (TNT) for usage successful subject shells, bombs, and grenades that are exported to Israel, a apical US ally.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Emotional reunions arsenic Palestinian patients instrumentality to Gaza aft 2 years
• list 2 of 3Trump’s Gaza program present has “authority to usage force”
• list 3 of 3Video: Families successful Gaza inactive surviving without energy arsenic wintertime arrives

Poland, the lone large TNT shaper successful the EU and NATO, was identified by the People’s Embargo for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Shadow World Investigations and Movement Research Unit arsenic the root of the explosive utilized successful the general-purpose Mk 80 bid – among the astir communal air-dropped weapons successful the satellite – arsenic good arsenic the penetrator BLU-109 bomb.

“This study decisively implicates Nitro-Chem and the Polish authorities arsenic a captious nexus successful facilitating the proviso concatenation of genocide,” Nadya Tannous, an organiser with the Palestinian Youth Movement, told Al Jazeera.

Air-dropped bombs are typically filled with an explosive premix of TNT and aluminium powder. Ninety percent of TNT imported by the US – wherever determination is nary home accumulation – comes from Poland, the study found. Nitro-Chem has besides been selling explosives, including TNT, straight to Israel, according to the report.

While UN experts person recovered Israel to beryllium committing genocidal acts successful Gaza and called connected each states to fulfil their ineligible obligations nether the Genocide Convention, the study is grounds of Poland’s relation “in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians”, said Tannous.

Surviving Israeli bombs successful Gaza

Since launching its latest warfare connected Gaza successful October 2023, pursuing the Hamas-led incursion into confederate Israel, the Israeli service has relied heavy connected guided and unguided Mk 80 bombs sold by General Dynamics, the world’s fifth-largest weapons manufacturer.

Video grounds of unexploded Mk 84 bombs – the largest of the bid – with markings indicating that the weaponry was produced by General Dynamics – confirms that they person been utilized successful the Strip.

Israel is known to person utilized unguided bombs of the Mk 80 bid successful the targeting of Gaza’s Jabalia exile campy connected October 31, 2023, which could magnitude to a war crime, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

These were besides converted into guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), specified arsenic the 1 utilized to strike civilian homes successful Deir el-Balah connected October 10, 2023. Amnesty International, which investigated that attack, called the strikes unlawful and tantamount to a warfare crime.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel dropped much than 25,000 tonnes of explosives connected the Strip – equivalent to 2 atomic bombs – successful the archetypal period of the war.

As warring intensified, Mahmoud (*not his existent name) was sleeping alongside his woman and children successful their location successful confederate Gaza erstwhile a large detonation shook the earth. The walls collapsed connected them, and a occurrence broke retired among the rubble. The household was rescued and taken to the hospital.

“After I near the hospital, I didn’t person immoderate shoes, truthful I walked barefoot connected the pieces of glass, rubble, cement and metal,” helium said. “I didn’t consciousness anything, I conscionable stood determination for hours and stared astatine the heap of rubble that, a fewer hours ago, was our home.”

Thirteen of his relatives were killed successful the bombing, including 7 children. Mahmoud has since been capable to permission Gaza and relocate to Europe with the surviving members of his family.

Footage from the country shows shrapnel compatible with the Mk 80 weaponry series, according to subject analysts. Al Jazeera is withholding details of the incident, arsenic good arsenic of the survivor’s identity, to trim the hazard of reprisal oregon retaliation.

While the household is present miles away, the memories of what they experienced successful Gaza person followed them.

“The bombing has been haunting our household each time since. It near each of america traumatised,” Mahmoud said.

Finding retired that Poland apt provided the explosive that tore his household isolated has near him shaken.

“I consciousness sadness and disappointment that a country, which advocates for quality rights and humanitarianism, has forgotten that determination are quality beings successful the Gaza Strip bombed each time – humans nary antithetic than radical successful Europe,” helium said.

“These bombs are utilized chiefly to [target] residential homes, tents made retired of integrative sheets, civilian infrastructure … They person a wide effect, they are not precise, and they destruct everything around,” Mahmoud continued.

The Mk 84 has tremendous destructive capacity, with a lethal radius of astir 360 metres (about 1,180 feet) and an wounded radius of up to 800 metres (2,625 feet) from the constituent of detonation.

“How is it imaginable that Poland agrees to nutrient and merchantability explosive material, knowing it volition beryllium utilized against civilians?” helium said.

Al Jazeera has contacted Nitro-Chem and representatives of the Polish authorities for comment.

Polish TNT for American bombs

General Dynamics has been sourcing TNT for Mk 80 bid weaponry accumulation from Nitro-Chem since astatine slightest 2016.

Polish-made TNT besides ended up successful the penetrator BLU-109 bomb, which tin destruct underground and heavy fortified targets, according to accusation provided to the authors of the study by the bomb’s US manufacturer, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), the Polish institution Nitro-Chem and US authorities databases.

The company’s dealings with the US and Israel person continued contempt the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering emergency measures successful January 2024 to forestall genocidal acts and recognising genocide arsenic a plausible risk.

In April 2024, Nitro-Chem signed a declaration with Paramount Enterprises International to proviso TNT for Mk 80 bid bombs and, soon after, the US authorities approved the transportation of 1,800 Mk 84 bombs to Israel.

Most recently, successful April 2025, the institution signed its largest declaration yet – worthy $310m – for the transportation of 18,000 tonnes of TNT successful betwixt 2027 and 2029, the study found.

Destruction from Poland to Gaza

The US does not marque TNT, a toxic substance that has sedate biology impacts and is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency arsenic a imaginable carcinogen.

In Poland, the Supreme Audit Office recovered Nitro-Chem’s TNT contributed to the contamination of the country’s largest and astir ecologically important river, the Vistula. Polish media accused the institution of disposing of toxic discarded successful amerciable dumping sites.

In Gaza, 2 years of struggle person caused unprecedented levels of biology damage, damaging its soil, freshwater supplies and coastline, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Much of Gaza’s vegetation has been destroyed, rendering nutrient accumulation minimal astatine a clip erstwhile famine threatens much than 500,000 people. About 80 percent of Gaza’s estimated 250,000 buildings person been damaged oregon destroyed, generating 61 cardinal tonnes of debris, UNEP found. According to the agency, it volition instrumentality decades to reverse the damage.

Tannous, 1 of the report’s authors, expressed anticipation that nationalist unit mightiness punctual the authorities successful Warsaw to change course.

“Now, arsenic the masses of radical successful Europe emergence successful their millions to extremity authorities complicity successful Israel’s genocide, we telephone connected Poland to extremity its shipment of Nitro-Chem TNT to Israel,” she said.