The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful ۲,۰۰۰lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.
The $۲.۸bn package includes ۴۰,۰۰۰ bombs, made up of ۲۰,۰۰۰ MK-۸۴s and ۲۰,۰۰۰ BLU-۱۱۷s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final.
Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal, most of which is to be paid for with foreign military financing – in which US taxpayer dollars are given to Israel to turn around and buy the weapons from the United States.
The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israeli’s military capacity. The war on Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and has decimated the territory. The US had brokered a fragile ceasefire, but it has been violated several times.
The package, which was reported earlier by the Washington Post, comes as Israel has faced increasing international isolation over its war on Gaza in response to the deadly ۷ October ۲۰۲۳ attacks by Hamas.
As soon as Trump returned to office in ۲۰۲۵, he lifted a hold on one shipment of MK-۸۴ bombs to Israel imposed by the Biden administration in ۲۰۲۴. In the first months of Israel’s offensive on Gaza, following the ۷ October attack, the Biden administration had sent thousands of the ۲,۰۰۰lb bombs to Israel.
Last year, the Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review process and approved a nearly $۳bn sale to Israel that included more than ۳۵,۵۰۰ of the bombs. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $۶.۶۷bn in January.
The ۲,۰۰۰lb bombs have multiple variants, with some designed to penetrate deep, underground targets while others detonate above ground and cause widespread damage.
American-made one-ton bombs have been used to hundreds of times in deadly strikes in Gaza and Lebanon. The New York Times reported in late ۲۰۲۳ that Israel had routinely dropped MK-۸۴ bombs in areas of Gaza it had designated as safe for civilians.
Trevor Ball, a former explosive-ordnance-disposal technician for the US army who studies open-source images of civilian harm caused by US weapons, told the Post that the Israeli military uses MK-۸۴ bombs to destroy entire buildings in pursuit of suspected militants. “If Hezbollah or whoever is in a building, an MK-۸۴ will bring down the whole building,” Ball said.
Though the Israeli military has offered few details about what bombs and artillery it has used in Gaza, experts analyzing strike footage and blast fragments found on-site believe US-made bombs have been used there, targeting a tunnel network reportedly used by Hamas but also killing people in densely populated areas.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in ۲۰۲۳ killed around ۱,۲۰۰ people and saw ۲۵۱ taken hostage. Israel has since killed more than ۷۳,۲۶۴ Palestinians, including those killed in violation of the ceasefire, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Robert Mackey contributed reporting
