US-made bomb used by Israel in deadliest attack yet on civilians in Lebanon: Report

A US-made bomb was used in Israel’s Thursday attack on Lebanon’s capital of Beirut that failed to kill a senior Hezbollah figure but slaughtered over 20 civilians and wounded 117 more, according to a new report.

Shrapnel from a US-made Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) was found by The Guardian and analyzed by the crisis, conflict and arms division of Human Rights Watch and a former US military bomb technician.

Israel says it was targeting Wafik Safa, a top political official who was in charge of coordinating with Lebanese security agencies and often met with foreign diplomats. Hezbollah said Safa survived the attempt and said none of the group’s members were present in the building at the time. Other media reports have suggested that Safa was severely wounded.

The Israeli attack was the deadliest on civilians since the outbreak of the war, which began when Hezbollah started launching rockets at Israel in October 2023. The Iran-backed group said it was doing so in support of Gaza, which was being bombarded by the Israeli military in response to the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The attack killed 22 people and wounded at least 100 more, according to official Lebanese figures.

The Guardian said that this was the first time a US-made bomb had been confirmed to have been used in an attack on central Beirut since 2006. Al Arabiya English could not independently verify this.

The Biden administration has provided Israel with at least $17.9 billion in military aid since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack last year, a new report published this week said. However, the latest report was completed before the Pentagon announced additional troop and asset deployments to the Middle East last week, as well as the start of another Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Those are expected to cost the US hundreds of millions, if not billions.

Separately, the Israeli military attacked and wounded, for the second time in as many days, UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Another Israeli attack also killed two Lebanese soldiers and wounded three more, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said.

Al Arabiya English has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on Friday’s attacks and whether or not it supports these Israeli operations as part of the so-called limited ground incursion into Lebanon.

Israel said it is going after Hezbollah’s infrastructure and weapons depots across the country. Washington has voiced full support for its campaign despite publicly stating for almost 12 months that it was against any ground operations or invasion of Lebanon.

So far this week, Israel attacked UNIFIL troops, destroyed a LAF watchtower, planted an Israeli flag inside of Lebanese territory, bombed and destroyed the homes of relatives of current US diplomats and US Embassy Beirut employees.

Asked on Thursday if these were in line with US interests, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the reports of attacks on LAF and UNIFIL positions were “concerning.”

“Certainly, we do not want to see noncombatants targeted as operations are being conducted,” he told Al Arabiya English during a daily press briefing.

Ryder added that the US still believed Israel was conducting “limited ground operations across the border to remove Hezbollah attack infrastructure.”