UK link to bombs used against Gaza schools

Europe's largest missiles maker, MBDA, is selling crucial components for bombs shipped in their thousands to Israel and used in airstrikes where research indicates Palestinian civilians, including children, have died.

- Juliette Garside, Manisha Ganguly, Ariane Lavrilleux

With concerns mounting about the extent to which European companies may be profiting from the devastation of Gaza, a Guardian investigation with the independent newsrooms Disclose and Follow the Money has examined the supply chain behind the GBU-39 bomb, and the ways it has been deployed during the conflict.

MBDA owns a factory in Alabama, US, which produces "wings" that are fitted to the GBU-39, made by Boeing. They unfold after launch, allowing the bomb to be guided to its target. Revenues from the US company MBDA Incorporated flow through MBDA UK, based in Hertfordshire, which then passes any profits to MBDA group, headquartered in France. MBDA distributed almost £350m in dividends last year to its three shareholders - Britain's biggest defence firm, BAE Systems, France's Airbus and Italy's Leonardo.

In September, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, suspended some weapons export licences to Israel, citing the risk of "serious violations" of international humanitarian law.

Lammy said the move was designed to target "items which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza".

Using open source information, and analysis by weapons experts, the investigation has verified 24 cases where the GBU-39 was deployed in attacks that killed civilians. Each one included children among the dead.

Many attacks took place at night, without warning, in school buildings and tent camps where families were sheltering. A number have been examined by the UN and Amnesty International, which flagged them as suspected war crimes.

MBDA confirmed it had a contract with Boeing for the wings, and said it "complies all relevant national and international laws applicable to the arms trade in the countries in which it operates... all of whom have export policies and operate robust export control regimes".

Campaigners said the case illustrates the limits of the UK's move to pause some arms shipments to Israel.