An Associated Press photographer’s camera captured the moment an Israeli bomb fell on a collapsing high-rise building in Beirut.

The airstrike came 40 minutes after Israel warned residents to evacuate two buildings in the area that it said were near Hezbollah warehouses and assets.

This is a rare snapshot of the precise use of one of the most powerful bombs in Israel’s arsenal.

What kind of bomb was it?

An examination by independent weapons experts suggests the weapon was a guided bomb, also known as a smart bomb, launched from an Israeli aircraft.

Parts of the tail and nose fin indicate it was a 2,000-pound warhead equipped with an Israeli-made guidance kit known as SPICE, according to Human Rights Watch researcher Richard Weir.

Intelligent, accurate and cost-effective SPICE guidance systems are manufactured by the defense technology company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. They are attached to a standard unguided bomb to direct the weapon to its target.

Minutes before the building was hit and collapsed, two smaller strikes were heard as a warning shot, according to AP reporters at the scene. The practice has been seen in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza where more than 40,000 people have been killed, according to local officials who do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the type of weapon used.

Why is Israel using this type of bomb?

The Rafael company advertises the SPICE kits as being able to operate day or night, in bad weather and in areas where GPS does not work. It also states that the equipment offers “efficiency and low collateral losses” due to the “accuracy of the hit”.

The 2,000-pound version can be launched up to 60 kilometers away from its target.

Once launched from an Israeli warplane, such as an American-made F-15 or F-16, the bomb is directed toward its target, adjusting its course using movable fins.

Beirut

Joseph Dempsey, a defense and military analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, confirmed that the photos showed a 2,000-pound SPICE bomb.

He said the guidance system is believed to be based on GPS and electro-optical guidance systems, which use cameras or sensors to pinpoint the bomb’s target.

The destructive nature of the weapon is due to many factors, including the size of the warhead and how it is fused.

This explains why the destruction was almost entirely confined to the building that was targeted. People standing a few hundred yards away felt little if any of the explosion.

Where is this bomb made?

The answer is not clear.

“The guidance kits for SPICE 2000 are manufactured by Rafael in Israel, although the level of reliance on foreign subcomponents remains unclear,” said Dempsey.

In 2019, Rafael and the US defense company Lockheed Martin signed a cooperation agreement to manufacture and sell SPICE guidance kits in the US.

In late October 2023, weeks after the deadly October 7 Hamas attack, the US State Department issued a letter authorizing the export of additional SPICE bomb kits to Israel.

The warhead is a standard bomb, in this case a 2,000-pound MK-84-type explosive, with the nose and tail section substituted for the guidance system.

The US earlier this year halted shipments of these powerful bombs to Israel due to concerns about civilian casualties, although Israel is believed to still have a stockpile.

It is difficult to know for sure where the bomb kit was manufactured. Israel relies on the US for supplies of MK-84 bombs, but both it and other countries also produce similar weapons.