U.S. Resumes Shipment of Bombs to Israel

Latest Developments

The United States will resume shipments of 500-pound bombs to Israel, a U.S. official said on July 10. The official explained that the delivery of 1,700 MK-82 500-pound bombs for Israel was inadvertently delayed because they were part of a larger shipment of 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration paused due to its opposition to a planned Israeli ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The official reiterated that the White House was concerned only about Israel’s potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah rather than the 500-pound bombs. The delivery of the 500-pound bomb was delayed only because it was “in the same shipment with the larger ones that were paused and therefore got held up,” the official stated

A National Security Council spokesperson meanwhile confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that delivery of the larger bombs remains on hold. The Biden administration argued that the 2,000-pound bombs were “not necessary to be used in an urban area like Rafah” but stated that other security assistance to Israel would not be impacted.

Expert Analysis

“The only munition for Israel currently being held by the administration is the one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the kind of munition needed for a major war with Hezbollah. It is past time for the administration to lift its hold on these munitions. A failure to do so risks emboldening Israel’s enemies and leaving Israel less prepared when a major war with Hezbollah comes.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power

“The Israel Defense Forces needs to get its munitions house in order, and soon. The United States is the arsenal of democracy that can provide the necessary air- and ground-launched munitions necessary to defeat Hezbollah if and when required. Shipping these delayed 500-pound munitions is a good first step, but only a step, in getting the flow of munitions back up to the necessary high speed.” — RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Senior Fellow and Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology

U.S. Fears Over Rafah Operation Did Not Materialize

Israeli forces began ground operations on the outskirts of the city — located on the Gaza-Egypt border — on May 7 after calling for residents to evacuate. Despite predictions that evacuating the approximately 1.3 million civilians living in Rafah would take up to four months, nearly 900,000 Gazans evacuated in approximately two weeks.

On June 23, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Rafah offensive was close to being complete. Senior U.S. officials later said that Israel’s Rafah operation did not cross the administration’s “red lines” and was being conducted in a “more targeted, precise” manner to ensure civilian casualties are limited. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on May 28 that the Rafah operation was a “different type of military operation” than those undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces in Khan Younis and Gaza City.

According to a Reuters report, U.S. officials indicated that Washington has transferred at least 14,000 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions to Israel between October 7 — when Hamas launched the war with a massacre of Israeli civilians in southern Israel — and June 28.

Related Analysis

“A greatly expanded arsenal means this is not the Hezbollah of 2006,” by Bradley Bowman, Lydia LaFavor, and Cameron McMillan

“Biden Blocks Arms to Israel While Promising Future Support,” FDD Flash Brief

“Biden turns on Israel,” by Clifford D. May

“Reports Claim U.S. Delaying Munitions to Send Message to Israel,” FDD Flash Brief

“How to Ensure Israel Has the Weapons it Needs,” by Bradley Bowman and Richard Goldberg