Bydgoszcz/Warsaw, November 18, 2025 – A new investigation has accused Poland’s state-owned explosives manufacturer Nitro-Chem of supplying the vast majority of trinitrotoluene (TNT) used in U.S.-made bombs dropped on Gaza during Israel’s military campaign, highlighting the company’s role in a supply chain that has fueled widespread destruction in the Palestinian enclave.
The report, titled “The Missing Ingredient: Polish TNT” and released today by a coalition including the People’s Embargo for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Shadow World Investigations, and Movement Research Unit, claims Nitro-Chem produces around 90% of the TNT imported by the United States for filling Mk 80-series aerial bombs, including the 2,000-pound Mk 84, which have been extensively used by the Israeli Air Force since October 2023.
Researchers assert that tens of thousands of these bombs, likely containing Polish-made TNT, have contributed to the destruction of up to 80% of Gaza’s buildings, including hospitals, schools, and refugee camps.
“Based on information provided by the bomb’s U.S. manufacturer, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, the Polish company Nitro-Chem, and U.S. government databases, we can conclude that there is a high probability that a significant proportion of [Mk 84s] that Israel dropped on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 are filled with Polish-made TNT,” the report states.
Nitro-Chem, based in Bydgoszcz and Europe’s largest TNT producer, has supplied U.S. contractors since at least 2016. Contracts have continued amid the Gaza conflict, with a major deal signed in April 2024 for TNT deliveries extending to 2029. In April 2025, the company inked its largest contract yet – valued at around $310 million – to supply 18,000 tons of TNT to U.S. intermediary Paramount Enterprises International from 2027 onward.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk, who described Polish-U.S. TNT export deals as “iron-clad.”
The report points to pressure on Poland to maintain supplies, quoting an anonymous military source from a June 2025 Polish media investigation: “Polish politicians were told that if Poland wants the American security umbrella, we must continue selling them TNT. Breaking this contract was portrayed as an act against American companies in Poland.”
U.S. manufacturer General Dynamics fills the bombs at facilities in Texas, and thousands have been transferred to Israel, including after a brief Biden-era hold on Mk 84 shipments was lifted early this year.
Estimates suggest Israel detonated bombs equivalent to around 75,000 tons of TNT in Gaza by mid-2024 – a yield comparable to more than twice the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.
Military analysts have described the bombing intensity as unprecedented since the Vietnam War.
Adding a historical dimension, Nitro-Chem’s factory sits on the site of a massive Nazi-era arms plant built between 1940 and 1944 near Holocaust memorials and former concentration camps.
During World War II, Polish resistance fighters sabotaged the facility; the report notes no recent similar actions despite the current exports.
The authors urge an immediate halt to supplies: “We call on Nitro-Chem and the Polish authorities to immediately cease the supply of TNT for the production of Mk 80 series bombs and artillery used by Israel, as well as direct supplies of explosives to Israel.
Their failure to do so may meet the legal criteria for aiding and abetting genocide and other international and domestic crimes.”
Nitro-Chem and Polish government officials have not yet responded to the allegations. The U.S. has no domestic TNT production, relying heavily on imports, and global demand has strained supplies amid multiple conflicts.
