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US President Donald Trump has resumed shipments of 2000 pound bombs to Israel amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. The development came mere days after a six-week ceasefire went into effect — with the POTUS also floating a plan to 'clean out' Gaza. Delivery of these deadly bombs had been halted under the previous Joe Biden administration in a bid to reduce civilian casualties.
“A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way!” Trump explained via Truth Social on Saturday.
The Republican leader confirmed their release on Saturday during an interaction with reporters. Trump said that the deadly weapons had been in ‘storage’ under the previous administration — despite Israel paying for them and ‘waiting for a long time’.
The Biden administration had also delivered thousands of these powerful 2000 pound bombs in the early days of the war — before shipments were halted due to concerns about civilian casualties.
The Mark 84 is a 2,000-pound (around 900 kg) aircraft bomb that can have a massive impact — ripping through concrete and metal to create a wide blast radius. It can reportedly kill people 360 metres away from the point of detonation and cause severe injury and damage building infrastructure 800 metres away.
According to a Reuters report from June 2024, the Biden administration transferred at least 14,000 of these heavy-duty 2,000-pound bombs within the first few months of war. Other munitions supplied during this time included 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs and 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs.
Washington has announced assistance worth billions of dollars for Israel since the war began in October 2023. Military funding for the country will continue during the Trump administration — even as nearly all foreign aid is frozen under the America First policy.
The POTUS recently urged neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt to increase their acceptance of Palestinian refugees — potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area to create a virtual clean slate. Washington had said last year that it opposed the forcible displacement of Palestinians.
“I said to him I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump said about a call with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday.
He also indicated plans to speak to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. The POTUS said this “could be either” a temporary or long-term suggestion
“I’d like Egypt to take people. You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” Trump told reporters.
(With inputs from agencies)
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