Israel's genocidal war on Gaza drained NATO's TNT reserves."
Rights groups say the scale of Israel’s genocide in Gaza would not have been possible without Polish-made TNT
Polish MP Maciej Konieczny told parliament on 21 November that Europe cannot secure enough TNT for its own defense or for Ukraine because Nitro-Chem, Poland’s sole producer and the continent’s only large TNT supplier, is bound by contracts sending much of its output to the US, where the explosive is used to manufacture the MK-84 and BLU-109 bombs supplied to Israel for its Gaza assault.
He said this diversion has left Poland with barely a month’s worth of TNT for wartime needs and has pushed European militaries into a severe shortage, while raising questions over whether Israel’s bombardment is being prioritized over Europe’s security requirements.
The Telegraph also recently cited a consortium of international rights groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, saying Israel’s widescale bombardment of Gaza has relied heavily on TNT supplied through Poland’s state-owned Nitro-Chem plant, a dependence it links to the explosive shortage now facing NATO.
The factory provides 90 percent of the TNT imported by the US for munitions such as the MK-84 and BLU-109 “bunker buster” bombs.
Those weapons have been delivered to Israel in large quantities and linked to high-casualty strikes on densely populated areas. Nitro-Chem has also supplied TNT and RDX to Israel directly.
The report notes that Washington continued dispatching heavy bombs to Israel even as global supplies tightened, including recent shipments that preceded the company’s $310-million agreement with the US military to deliver TNT between 2027 and 2029.
It warns that western dependence on a single Polish facility has left the rest of Europe exposed to a shortage of explosives, a gap intensified by the scale of Israeli demand.
According to the findings, from October 2023 to July 2024, the US transferred at least 14,000 MK-84 bombs and 8,700 MK-82 bombs to Israel while drawing on Nitro-Chem’s output for resupply.
The report argues that “without Polish-made TNT, the unprecedented scale and intensity of aerial bombardment that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed the conditions of life in Gaza … would not be possible.”
It also notes that the US, UK, and other European states shut down their TNT factories years ago because of the heavy pollution associated with production, leaving Nitro-Chem as the only significant supplier available to them.
The report adds that although China and Russia still produce TNT, they are not viewed as viable options for either Washington or European capitals.
Nitro-Chem declined to address the report’s allegations, saying only that the company does not comment on matters tied to the sensitivity of its work and that its operations follow international law.
The rights groups behind the report are urging both the firm and Polish officials to stop providing the explosives used in Israeli weapons.