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US Prepares $2.8B Sale of 60000 Heavy Bombs to Israel
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US Prepares $2.8B Sale of 60000 Heavy Bombs to Israel

By Editorial Team•Sep 16, 2026 · 2:19 PM•4 min read
AI-generated representative image: Military cargo aircraft and munitions crates at an airbase, illustrating a reported US arms sale to Israel.
Editorial Team
Editorial Team
Trump administration readies 2000-pound munitions package for Israel amid bipartisan backlash

United States President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to sell 60,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs to Israel in a multibillion-dollar package funded by American taxpayers. US media has reported that the administration has approved the sale, which features some of the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, and has informally notified Congress. The package is valued at $2.8 billion, with the majority paid through Washington's Foreign Military Financing scheme.

The proposed sale is one of the largest US munitions packages ever assembled for Israel and arrives after nearly three years of war on Gaza, ongoing settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and a major assault on southern Lebanon that together have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. It also comes as the US's own munitions stockpile has been depleted by its war on Iran and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, raising questions about the timing and scale of the transfer.

Reported Package Details

The Trump administration has not officially confirmed the sale. A senior administration official told AFP that "all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process" but declined to comment on pending transactions. A State Department spokesperson added that the Department does not confirm proposed arms sales until they are formally notified to Congress.

According to reports, the package is believed to include three bomb types, each numbering 20,000 units:

  • MK-84: The largest of the Mark 80 series, an unguided 2,000-pound general-purpose bomb designed for maximum blast and fragmentation against buildings and moderately protected targets.
  • BLU-117: A 2,000-pound general-purpose bomb with a different explosive filler that can be fitted with precision-guidance kits and carries a thermal protective coating for safer storage.
  • I-2000 Penetrator: A roughly 2,000-pound-class "bunker buster" designed to punch through hardened structures before detonating, with a substantially thicker casing than an MK-84.

Historical Use and Policy Shifts

Israel has used 2,000-pound-class bombs in the occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon for at least four decades, predating the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered the current war on Gaza. In 1981, Israel used such bombs in the Osirak strike, Operation Opera, which destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad. The following year, the bombs were dropped in Lebanon and Syria, resulting in a high civilian toll.

In 2024, then-President Joe Biden's administration paused delivery of some 2,000-pound-class bombs to Israel amid international criticism over civilian casualties. Trump ended that pause upon returning to office and bypassed the usual congressional review process to approve a nearly $3 billion arms sale including more than 35,500 such bombs. In January of this year, Washington approved a further package of arms sales to Israel worth $6.67 billion.

Destructive Capacity and Stockpile Concerns

According to the Project on Defense Alternatives, a 2,000-pound blast will severely damage, injure or kill everything within 35 metres (115 feet), and can carve out a crater roughly 50 feet across and 16 feet deep. On October 31, 2023, Israel dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City, killing dozens of civilians and leaving a giant crater; the UN human rights office said the attack could amount to a war crime.

The combined weight of 60,000 such bombs is approximately 54,400 tonnes, about the weight of the steel skeleton of New York's Empire State Building and nearly the total weight of bombs dropped on Berlin throughout World War II. Meanwhile, a Pentagon watchdog report released Monday confirmed that the war on Iran is depleting Washington's munitions, particularly Patriot missile systems, and creating supply-chain bottlenecks. President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US is "producing more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History."

Reaction and Next Steps

The reported sale has drawn condemnation from figures across the US political spectrum. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said he would work to block the sale, accusing the administration of "sending bombs paid for by American taxpayers to a government led by a wanted war criminal." Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also criticized the transfer.

A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent in 2017. The administration has not yet formally notified Congress, and no official confirmation of the sale has been issued.

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