Direct proof of use
The Mk 82 500-pound unguided bomb appears in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War record through munition-fragment evidence from Gaza City. On July 2, 2025, the Guardian reported that fragments photographed at the ruins of al-Baqa cafe after a June 30 Israeli strike had been identified by ordnance experts as parts of a U.S.-made Mk 82 general-purpose 230 kg bomb.
The identification was incident-specific rather than a broad inventory claim. The Guardian tied the fragments and a large crater at the cafe to the Mk 82 assessment, and reported that an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the cafe strike was under review and that aerial surveillance had been used before the strike. The Times of Israel separately reported the IDF response that it had struck several Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza and was investigating the strike that hit the seafront cafe.
AP reporting on June 30, 2025 supports the strike context: witnesses and health officials described an Israeli airstrike on the crowded al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City, with at least 30 people killed and many wounded. AP did not identify the munition model; the Mk 82 claim rests on the Guardian's fragment photographs and ordnance-expert identifications.
Sources: Guardian Al-Baqa Mk 82 Fragment Identification, AP Al-Baqa Cafe Strike Report, Times of Israel IDF Reviewing Cafe Strike
Timeline
The documented Mk 82 event occurred late in the war's renewed 2025 Gaza operations. On June 30, 2025, AP reported that an Israeli strike hit al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City while it was crowded, killing at least 30 people according to health officials and witnesses. The same day, the Times of Israel reported the IDF statement that the army was reviewing the strike and said it had targeted several Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza.
Two days later, the Guardian published its munition identification from scene photographs. It reported that ordnance experts identified the photographed fragments as Mk 82 bomb parts and that two experts also viewed the large crater as further evidence of a large bomb such as an Mk 82.
Sources: AP Al-Baqa Cafe Strike Report, Times of Israel IDF Reviewing Cafe Strike, Guardian Al-Baqa Mk 82 Fragment Identification
Operational role
In this conflict, the documented role of the Mk 82 was Israeli air-delivered strike ordnance used in Gaza. The available public evidence supports one specific use event at al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City; it does not establish a complete count of Mk 82 use, the aircraft type, the unit, or a broader pattern of Mk 82 expenditure across the campaign.
The record should keep Mk 82 bomb-body evidence separate from related guided-bomb records. U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notices during 2025 list possible sales to Israel that included 2,800 Mk 82 general-purpose 500-pound bomb bodies and later JDAM guidance kits for Mk 82 bomb bodies, but those notices are procurement and support context. They do not by themselves identify the weapon used in a specific Gaza strike.
Amnesty International's annual human-rights entry for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory also lists the June 30 al-Baqa cafe strike as an Israeli military strike in Gaza City that killed 32 people, mostly civilians. Amnesty's entry supports the strike's later human-rights reporting context, while the munition model remains sourced to the Guardian's fragment analysis.
Sources: Guardian Al-Baqa Mk 82 Fragment Identification, DSCA Israel Munitions Guidance Kits Fuzes, DSCA Israel Munitions Guidance Kits 25-59, Amnesty Israel OPT Annual Report
