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href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/"
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<h1>Polish company accused of supplying explosives for Israel\u2019s
war on Gaza</h1>
<p class="gmail-article__subhead"><em>An investigation claims
state-owned Nitro-Chem provides TNT for Mk 80 series bombs and
BLU-109 bombs.</em></p>
<div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img
src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AA-20231114-32867713-32867704-ISRAELI_ATTACKS_ON_GAZA_CONTINUE_ON_THE_39TH_DAY-1699949508.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80"
alt="Civil defense teams and civilians conduct a search and rescue operation under the rubble of demolished buildings after Israeli bombardment at Jabalia refugee camp"
width="394" height="262" style="margin-right: 25px;"
moz-do-not-send="true"></div>
<font size="1">Israel is known to have used unguided bombs of the
Mk 80 series in the bombing of Gaza\u2019s Jabalia refugee camp in
November 2023, which could amount to a war crime [File: Fadi
Alwhidi/Anadolu Agency]</font>
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class="gmail-article-info gmail-m--t-20 gmail-m--desktop-b-30 gmail-m--b-mobile-20">
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<p
class="gmail-contributors-list gmail-contributors-list--byline"><span
class="gmail-contributors-list__by-prefix">By </span><a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/author/marsif"
moz-do-not-send="true">Federica Marsi</a></p>
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<div class="gmail-article-dates">
<div class="gmail-date-simple"><span
class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 18 Nov 2025</span></div>
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<p>A Polish state-owned company has been accused of playing a
crucial role in aiding Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza,
providing a key explosive used in bombs and artillery that
have been widely deployed in the Strip.</p>
<p>A report released on Tuesday by a group of pro-Palestinian
organisations found the explosives maker Nitro-Chem to have
supplied United States arms companies with trinitrotoluene
(TNT) for use in military shells, bombs, and grenades that are
exported to Israel, a top US ally.</p>
<p>Poland, the only major TNT producer in the EU and NATO, was
identified by the People\u2019s Embargo for Palestine, Palestinian
Youth Movement, Shadow World Investigations and Movement
Research Unit as the source of the explosive used in the
general-purpose Mk 80 series \u2013 among the most common
air-dropped weapons in the world \u2013 as well as the penetrator
BLU-109 bomb.</p>
<p>\u201cThis report decisively implicates Nitro-Chem and the Polish
government as a critical link in facilitating the supply chain
of genocide,\u201d Nadya Tannous, an organiser with the Palestinian
Youth Movement, told Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Air-dropped bombs are typically filled with an explosive mix
of TNT and aluminium powder. Ninety percent of TNT imported by
the US \u2013 where there is no domestic production \u2013 comes from
Poland, the report found. Nitro-Chem has also been selling
explosives, including TNT, directly to Israel, according to
the report.</p>
<p>While UN experts have found Israel to be committing genocidal
acts in Gaza and called on all states to fulfil their legal
obligations under the Genocide Convention, the report is
evidence of Poland\u2019s role \u201cin the massacre of hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians\u201d, said Tannous.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-surviving-israeli-bombs-in-gaza">Surviving Israeli
bombs in Gaza</h2>
<p>Since launching its latest war on Gaza in October 2023,
following the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel, the
Israeli army has relied heavily on guided and unguided Mk 80
bombs sold by General Dynamics, the world\u2019s fifth-largest
weapons manufacturer.</p>
<p>Video evidence of unexploded Mk 84 bombs \u2013 the largest of the
series \u2013 with markings indicating that the bomb was produced
by General Dynamics \u2013 confirms that they have been used in the
Strip.</p>
<p>Israel is known to have used unguided bombs of the Mk 80
series in the targeting of Gaza\u2019s Jabalia refugee camp on
October 31, 2023, which could amount to a <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/un-rights-office-says-israeli-attacks-on-jabalia-could-be-war-crime"
moz-do-not-send="true">war crime,</a> according to the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights.</p>
<p>These were also converted into guided Joint Direct Attack
Munitions (JDAMs), such as the one used to <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2024/10/10/dozens-killed-in-israeli-strikes-on-the-displaced-in-gaza"
moz-do-not-send="true">strike civilian homes in Deir
el-Balah</a> on October 10, 2023. Amnesty International,
which investigated that attack, called the strikes unlawful
and tantamount to a war crime.</p>
<p>According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel
dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on the Strip \u2013
equivalent to two nuclear bombs \u2013 in the first month of the
war.</p>
<p>As fighting intensified, Mahmoud (*not his real name) was
sleeping alongside his wife and children in their home in
southern Gaza when a loud explosion shook the earth. The walls
collapsed on them, and a fire broke out among the rubble. The
family was rescued and taken to the hospital.</p>
<p>\u201cAfter I left the hospital, I didn\u2019t have any shoes, so I
walked barefoot on the pieces of glass, rubble, cement and
metal,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel anything, I just stood there
for hours and stared at the pile of rubble that, a few hours
ago, was our home.\u201d</p>
<p>Thirteen of his relatives were killed in the bombing,
including seven children. Mahmoud has since been able to leave
Gaza and relocate to Europe with the surviving members of his
family.</p>
<p>Footage from the scene shows shrapnel compatible with the Mk
80 bomb series, according to military analysts. Al Jazeera is
withholding details of the incident, as well as of the
survivor\u2019s identity, to reduce the risk of reprisal or
retaliation.</p>
<p>While the family is now miles away, the memories of what they
experienced in Gaza have followed them.</p>
<p>\u201cThe bombing has been haunting our family every day since. It
left all of us traumatised,\u201d Mahmoud said.</p>
<p>Finding out that Poland likely provided the explosive that
tore his family apart has left him shaken.</p>
<p>\u201cI feel sadness and disappointment that a country, which
advocates for human rights and humanitarianism, has forgotten
that there are human beings in the Gaza Strip bombed every day
\u2013 humans no different than people in Europe,\u201d he said.</p>
<p>\u201cThese bombs are used mainly to [target] residential homes,
tents made out of plastic sheets, civilian infrastructure \u2026
They have a wide effect, they are not precise, and they
destroy everything around,\u201d Mahmoud continued.</p>
<p>The Mk 84 has enormous destructive capacity, with a lethal
radius of about 360 metres (about 1,180 feet) and an injury
radius of up to 800 metres (2,625 feet) from the point of
detonation.</p>
<p>\u201cHow is it possible that Poland agrees to produce and sell
explosive material, knowing it will be used against
civilians?\u201d he said.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera has contacted Nitro-Chem and representatives of
the Polish government for comment.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-polish-tnt-for-american-bombs">Polish TNT for
American bombs</h2>
<p>General Dynamics has been sourcing TNT for Mk 80 series bomb
production from Nitro-Chem since at least 2016.</p>
<p>Polish-made TNT also ended up in the penetrator BLU-109 bomb,
which can destroy underground and heavily fortified targets,
according to information provided to the authors of the report
by the bomb\u2019s US manufacturer, General Dynamics Ordnance and
Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), the Polish company Nitro-Chem and
US government databases.</p>
<p>The company\u2019s dealings with the US and Israel have continued
despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/26/live-icj-to-issue-preliminary-ruling-in-south-africa-genocide-case-against-i"
moz-do-not-send="true">emergency measures</a> in January
2024 to prevent genocidal acts and recognising genocide as a
plausible risk.</p>
<p>In April 2024, Nitro-Chem signed a contract with Paramount
Enterprises International to supply TNT for Mk 80 series bombs
and, shortly after, the US government approved the transfer of
1,800 Mk 84 bombs to Israel.</p>
<p>Most recently, in April 2025, the company signed its largest
contract yet \u2013 worth $310m \u2013 for the delivery of 18,000 tonnes
of TNT in between 2027 and 2029, the report found.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-destruction-from-poland-to-gaza">Destruction from
Poland to Gaza</h2>
<p>The US does not make TNT, a toxic substance that has grave
environmental impacts and is classified by the Environmental
Protection Agency as a possible carcinogen.</p>
<p>In Poland, the Supreme Audit Office found Nitro-Chem\u2019s TNT
contributed to the pollution of the country\u2019s largest and most
ecologically significant river, the Vistula. Polish media
accused the company of disposing of toxic waste in illegal
dumping sites.</p>
<p>In Gaza, two years of conflict have caused unprecedented
levels of environmental damage, damaging its soil, freshwater
supplies and coastline, according to the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).</p>
<p>Much of Gaza\u2019s vegetation has been destroyed, rendering food
production minimal at a time when famine threatens more than
500,000 people. About 80 percent of Gaza\u2019s estimated 250,000
buildings have been damaged or destroyed, generating 61
million tonnes of debris, UNEP found. According to the agency,
it will take decades to reverse the damage.</p>
<p>Tannous, one of the report\u2019s authors, expressed hope that
public pressure might prompt the government in Warsaw to <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/23/shipping-giant-maersk-divests-from-companies-linked-to-israeli-settlements"
moz-do-not-send="true">change course.</a></p>
<p>\u201cNow, as the masses of people in Europe rise in their
millions to end government complicity in Israel\u2019s genocide, we
call on Poland to end its shipment of Nitro-Chem TNT to
Israel,\u201d she said.</p>
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