“Made in America”—Dropped on Gaza: The U.S. Supply Chain Behind Israel’s Bombing, and What Our Communities Can Do

dearbornblogadmin's avatar dearbornblogadmin on September 8, 2025

Excerpt:
U.S.-made bombs and components—assembled in plants from St. Charles, Missouri, to Tucson, Arizona, to Camden, Arkansas—are a backbone of Israel’s air war on Gaza. This WordPress-ready investigation maps the companies, towns, and tax breaks behind those weapons; summarizes the evidence of unlawful strikes; and lays out concrete, non-violent steps communities can take to halt complicity and pivot to life-centered production.

STAT CALLOUT

At least 64,000 Palestinians killed and tens of thousands more injured since Oct. 2023; multiple UN bodies have warned of plausible genocide and ongoing risk to civilians. 111 222 333

The core fact no one should ignore

Since October 2023, Israel has used large volumes of U.S.-origin munitions in Gaza—JDAM tail-kit guidance systems, GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs, Paveway laser-guidance kits, Hellfire missiles and more. Independent investigations by Amnesty International and others link U.S.-made weapons to strikes that killed civilians in homes and shelters, raising serious questions under international humanitarian law and U.S. arms-transfer policies. 444 555 666

Even after a brief U.S. pause on 2,000-lb bombs in spring 2024, Washington continued shipments of other bombs, and later administrations resumed heavy munitions deliveries—including thousands of 2,000-lb MK-84 class bombs—despite the extreme density of Gaza’s urban areas. 777 888

This is not abstract. It’s a logistics map stamped across American towns.

The U.S. weapons map: companies, products, and the communities that host them

Boeing – St. Charles, Missouri

  • What they make: JDAM guidance kits and the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) used repeatedly in Gaza. 555
  • Where: 2600 N. Third St., St. Charles, MO (historic facility record). 999
  • Community note: St. Louis-area residents protested outside Boeing’s St. Charles weapons plant, calling attention to its role in arming Israel’s campaign. 101010 111111

RTX (Raytheon) – Tucson, Arizona; East Camden, Arkansas (R2S joint venture with Rafael)

  • What they make: Paveway laser-guided kits; air-to-surface missiles; and via the R2S JV in Arkansas, Tamir (Iron Dome/SkyHunter) interceptors co-produced on U.S. soil. 121212 131313 141414
  • Where: Tucson, AZ; East Camden, AR facility backed by state incentives and slated to produce 1,000–2,000 Tamir missiles annually. 141414

General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) – Garland, Texas; Scranton, Pennsylvania

  • What they make: MK-80 series bomb bodies (the steel casings later mated to guidance kits) and 155mm artillery shell components central to Israel’s ground war. 151515 161616 171717
  • Where: Garland, TX (MK-80 bodies); Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, PA (155mm bodies, forged and shipped to load/pack sites). 161616

American Ordnance (Day & Zimmermann) – Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Middletown, Iowa

  • What they do: Load/assemble/package artillery rounds made from casings forged elsewhere (including Scranton), before distribution. 181818

MBDA (U.S. subsidiary) – Wing/fin kits for GBU-39

  • What they make: Wing components for Boeing’s GBU-39—linked by an investigation to multiple mass-casualty strikes on schools and shelters. [191919](#fn19]

L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, Nammo, Action Manufacturing, AMTEC, others – nationwide

  • What they make: Fuzes, propellants, and sub-assemblies for 155mm and other munitions; new facilities expanding in Virginia, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas to meet demand. 202020

Pull-quote

“Pieces and parts of that artillery shell are manufactured in multiple locations across the country… any one of those points along the way can create a delay.” — Breaking Defense on the 155mm supply chain. 212121

What’s happening in Gaza with those weapons

  • Documented unlawful strikes: Amnesty verified U.S.-made JDAM kits in two strikes that destroyed homes full of civilians (Dec. 2023), and later filed a submission to the U.S. government detailing additional unlawful strikes involving U.S.-origin weapons. 444 666
  • SDB/GBU-39 use: Reported in strikes that ignited fires in displacement camps and hit schools/shelters—many verified by independent investigations as mass-casualty events. 222222 191919
  • Civilian toll: UN officials, the ICJ, and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned of plausible genocide and ordered measures to protect civilians—orders widely seen as unmet. As of early September 2025, over 64,000 Palestinians were reported killed, with some analyses suggesting the true death toll is even higher when indirect deaths are counted. 111 222 333 232323

Why this is a Dearborn story, too

Dearborn and Metro Detroit know how national supply chains land on local doorsteps. The same dynamic holds for the U.S. weapons economy: defense firms leverage municipal incentives, state grants, and community goodwill to grow production capacity—even when products end up in strikes the UN and rights groups say may be war crimes. 141414 444 666

This is not about attacking neighbors. It is about democratic oversight of public subsidies and ethical conversion of plants whose outputs are harming civilians.

Community checklist: lawful, non-violent actions that work

  1. Sunshine before subsidies.
    Require public impact audits before any local or state tax abatements for weapons makers or their suppliers: What will be produced? Where is it exported? What civilian-harm risk exists?
  2. Contract clauses with teeth.
    Tie local incentives to compliance with the Arms Trade Treaty’s risk-assessment standard (or equivalent), requiring suspension if products are credibly linked to war crimes or genocide risk. 242424
  3. Divest to build.
    Ask public pension funds, universities, and city treasuries to divest from firms whose products are linked to unlawful strikes in Gaza; re-invest in civilian manufacturing and renewable infrastructure.
  4. Worker-centered conversion.
    Protect jobs by planning just-transition pathways (e.g., retooling for rail, grid, and medical devices). Encourage whistleblower protections and conscientious refusal policies within the bounds of law.
    Important: Dearborn Blog does not endorse harassment of individual workers. Accountability should target corporate leadership and government decision-makers, not line employees.
  5. School-to-civics pipeline.
    Promote local STEM partnerships that serve public health, transit, and climate—not bomb bodies. Offer scholarships and apprenticeships tied to peaceful tech.
  6. Port and logistics solidarity.
    Coordinate with unions and community groups to oppose shipments of arms to war zones consistent with law and safety, learning from recent actions by dockworkers in Italy, Greece, Belgium, and France. (See Dearborn Blog’s prior coverage of port blockades.)

“But the U.S. paused the biggest bombs—doesn’t that fix it?”

No. In July 2024 Washington resumed shipments of 500-lb bombs while continuing to withhold some 2,000-lb bombs; by early 2025, heavy bomb deliveries again moved. 777 888 The overwhelming majority of munitions continued to flow, including Hellfires and thousands of 2,000-lb bombs earlier in the war. 888

The legal risk—here and abroad

  • The International Court of Justice found a plausible risk of genocide and ordered provisional measures to protect civilians. 222 252525
  • Rights groups warn U.S. transfers may breach U.S. and international law when weapons are used in indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks. 666 262626

Municipalities that underwrite plants producing key components cannot ignore this risk. Public money should not lubricate supply chains implicated in mass civilian harm.

A Dearborn principle

We are a city that knows both industry and injustice. Our neighbors trace roots to Gaza City and Khan Younis, to Najaf and Tyre and Ramallah—families whose WhatsApp threads ping with air-raid timestamps and missing-person lists. If parts made in American towns are striking our cousins’ homes, we must insist on another way.

This is not about purity politics. It’s about not helping to pull the trigger.

Pull-quote

“No community should be asked to subsidize weapons later used in attacks on homes, schools, and shelters. Economic development must be development for life.” — Dearborn Blog Editorial Board

What Dearborn residents can do this month

  • City Council: Introduce a Human Rights Procurement Ordinance requiring vendor screening against credible civilian-harm findings by UN/OHCHR/Amnesty.
  • County & State: Condition abatements on civilian-use conversion plans for defense suppliers.
  • Unions & Faith groups: Host town halls with defense workers about just-transition and whistleblower protections.
  • Parents & Students: Ask schools and colleges to end recruiting pipelines into weapons production and pivot internships to public-interest engineering.
  • Everyone: Support medical and relief NGOs serving Gaza; back journalism that documents weapons-effects.

Dearborn isn’t powerless. The supply chain runs through our politics—and it can be re-routed.

Block quotes: evidence at a glance

“US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians… These must be investigated as war crimes.” — Amnesty International, Dec. 2023. 444

“The GBU-39 was likely used… The fragments can travel up to 600 meters, posing significant risk to nearby civilians.” — Associated Press analysis of a strike that set tents ablaze. 222222

“Over 10,000 two-thousand-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfires sent to Israel since October 7.” — Reuters, June 2024. 888

Footnotes & sources

  1. <a name=”fn1″></a>PBS/NewsHour – Gaza death toll surpasses 64,000, Sept. 2025. PBS
  2. <a name=”fn2″></a>ICJ – South Africa v. Israel case page & provisional-measures orders (Jan. and May 2024). International Court of Justice+1United Nations
  3. <a name=”fn3″></a>Nature – First independent excess-mortality survey estimates ~84,000 deaths through Jan. 2025 (preprint). Nature
  4. <a name=”fn4″></a>Amnesty International – JDAMs used in two unlawful strikes; investigate as war crimes (Dec. 2023). Amnesty International
  5. <a name=”fn5″></a>Arms Sales Accountability Project – JDAM & GBU-39 factsheet; Boeing production in St. Charles, MO. Arms Sales Accountability Project (ASAP)
  6. <a name=”fn6″></a>Amnesty USA – U.S.-made weapons used in violation of international and U.S. law (submission, Apr. 2024). Amnesty International USA
  7. <a name=”fn7″></a>Al Jazeera – U.S. resumes 500-lb bomb shipments to Israel while withholding 2,000-lb bombs (Jul. 2024). Al Jazeera
  8. <a name=”fn8″></a>Reuters – U.S. sent Israel 10,000+ 2,000-lb bombs and thousands of Hellfires since Oct. 7 (Jun. 2024); later heavy-bomb deliveries reported (Feb. 2025). Reuters+1
  9. <a name=”fn9″></a>Missouri DNR – Boeing St. Charles facility record (address). Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  10. <a name=”fn10″></a>KCUR – Protest blocks Boeing St. Charles plant entrances, Nov. 2023. KCUR
  11. <a name=”fn11″></a>Mondoweiss – “Block the Bombs” rally at Boeing Plant 598, St. Charles. Mondoweiss
  12. <a name=”fn12″></a>Boeing – Weapons portfolio (JDAM, SDB). Boeing
  13. <a name=”fn13″></a>The Defense Post – Raytheon/Rafael (R2S) begins Tamir missile factory construction, East Camden, AR. The Defense Post
  14. <a name=”fn14″></a>AP News – RTX to build $33M Tamir/SkyHunter facility in south Arkansas; state incentives; projected output. AP News
  15. <a name=”fn15″></a>Defense Industry Daily – Contracts for MK-80 bomb bodies (GD-OTS, Garland, TX). Defense Industry Daily
  16. <a name=”fn16″></a>AP News – Scranton Army Ammunition Plant produces 155mm bodies (with shipping to load/pack). AP News
  17. <a name=”fn17″></a>PeaceWorks KC – Overview of 155mm shell production (GD-OTS casings; Day & Zimmermann load/pack). PeaceWorks Kansas City
  18. <a name=”fn18″></a>U.S. Army – McAlester & GD-OTS partnership; MK-80 bodies; production context. Army
  19. <a name=”fn19″></a>The Guardian – MBDA parts used on GBU-39 bombs; verified strikes on schools/shelters. The Guardian
  20. <a name=”fn20″></a>NDIA briefing – 155mm suppliers and locations; L3Harris expansion (also company release). NDIA Conference ProceedingsL3Harris® Fast. Forward.
  21. <a name=”fn21″></a>Breaking Defense – Distributed U.S. supply chain for 155mm shells. Breaking Defense
  22. <a name=”fn22″></a>AP News – Experts: GBU-39 likely in deadly fire at displacement camp; smaller alternatives existed. AP News
  23. <a name=”fn23″></a>UN OHCHR – ICJ orders offer “hope” for civilians enduring “apocalyptic” conditions; continuing risk. OHCHR
  24. <a name=”fn24″></a>Amnesty International – Arms Trade Treaty risk rules and exporters’ obligations. Amnesty International
  25. <a name=”fn25″></a>UN (UNISPAL) – Summary of the ICJ’s May 24, 2024 order (third provisional measures). United Nations
  26. <a name=”fn26″></a>Amnesty USA – “No Weapons for War Crimes” campaign brief (pattern of unlawful attacks). Amnesty International USA

Editor’s note & disclaimer

Dearborn Blog supports lawful, non-violent advocacy, whistleblowing, and democratic oversight. We do not endorse harassment or doxxing of individual workers. Accountability must focus on government officials, corporate executives, and policies that authorize or profit from transfers linked to serious human-rights violations. All allegations of war crimes are claims supported by cited sources; ultimate legal determinations rest with competent courts and tribunals.

Have a correction or additional sourcing? Reach us at tips@dearbornblog.

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Dearborn Blog is a space for the diverse voices of the great city of Dearborn to be heard. Dearborn is a city rooted in innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity, tolerance, and building the American Dream. Dearborn Blog aspires to capture that spirit.

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