Trump administration plans $2.8 billion bomb sale to Israel

The Trump administration is preparing a $2.8 billion arms package for Israel that would include 40,000 powerful 2,000-pound bombs, reviving the delivery of weapons the Biden administration once paused over fears of mass civilian casualties in Gaza.

The proposed sale includes 20,000 MK-84 general-purpose bombs and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity because the package is not final. Al Jazeera, citing reports by The Washington Post and AFP, said the package also includes I-2000 Penetrator warheads designed to strike hardened underground structures.

Congress has been informally notified of the pending deal. Most of the package is expected to be funded through Foreign Military Financing, a system in which U.S. taxpayer money is provided to Israel to buy American weapons. The State Department told The Washington Post it does not comment on proposed sales before formal notification to Congress. A senior administration official told the newspaper that “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process.”

The package would be the largest single sale of the munition in recent years, according to Al Jazeera, citing The Washington Post and AFP. It comes as Israel faces international isolation over its war in Gaza, launched after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel has since killed more than 73,264 Palestinians, including people killed in violation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Gaza’s health ministry said.

The 2,000-pound bombs have drawn scrutiny because of their destructive force in densely populated areas. The MK-84 has been described by The Washington Post as among the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, capable of sending metal fragments hundreds of meters and tearing through thick concrete. The Guardian reported that some variants are designed to penetrate deep underground targets, while others detonate above ground and cause widespread damage.

American-made one-ton bombs have been used hundreds of times in deadly strikes in Gaza and Lebanon. The New York Times reported in late 2023 that Israel had routinely dropped MK-84 bombs in areas of Gaza it had designated as safe for civilians. Israel’s military has provided few details about the bombs and artillery it has used in Gaza, but experts analyzing strike footage and blast fragments believe U.S.-made bombs have been used there, including in strikes targeting a tunnel network reportedly used by Hamas and in attacks that killed people in densely populated areas.

Trevor Ball, a former explosive-ordnance-disposal technician for the U.S. Army who studies open-source images of civilian harm caused by U.S. weapons, told The Washington Post that Israel uses MK-84 bombs to destroy entire buildings in pursuit of suspected militants. “If Hezbollah or whoever is in a building, an MK-84 will bring down the whole building,” Ball said.

The Biden administration sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in the first months of the Gaza offensive but paused one shipment in 2024 over civilian casualty concerns. Trump lifted that hold after returning to office in 2025. His administration later bypassed a normal congressional review process and approved a nearly $3 billion sale that included more than 35,500 of the bombs, then approved another series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.

The pending sale has drawn criticism from some U.S. political figures. Senator Chris Van Hollen said he would work to block it, accusing Trump of “sending bombs paid for by American taxpayers to a government led by a wanted war criminal”. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote, “We did not vote for this. America does not support this. Our tax dollars and weapons have been used to kill tens of thousands of innocent people.”

Brian Finucane, senior adviser with the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, said the sale “sends a vote of confidence to Israel,” even as the administration says it wants to calm the region.