Two US sources who have access to an up-to-date list of weapons shipments say that since the war in Gaza began, the Biden administration has sent a lot of weapons to Israel. These include thousands of Hellfire missiles and more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs.
The United States has sent at least 14,000 MK-84 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 weapons since the war began in October of last year until now, according to officials who were not authorized to speak to the press.
The officials didn’t say when the shipments would happen, but the totals show that the US is still supporting its partner militarily, even though other countries have asked for less weapons and the administration recently decided to stop a shipment of powerful bombs.
There were shipments of goods that experts said match what Israel would need to restock for its eight-month-long intense military campaign in Gaza. The campaign began after an attack on October 7 by Palestinian Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people and held 250 others hostage, according to Israeli counts.
“These numbers could be used up pretty quickly in a major conflict, but this list clearly shows that the United States supports our Israeli allies,” said Tom Karako, an expert on weapons at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He also said that the weapons on the list were the kind that Israel would use in its fight against Hamas or a possible conflict with Hezbollah.
The arrival numbers, which haven’t been made public before, give the most complete and up-to-date list of all the weapons sent to Israel since the Gaza war began.
Israeli and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, have been firing at each other since the Gaza war began. There are growing fears that an all-out war could happen between the two sides.
The White House wouldn’t say anything. A request for comment was sent to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, but they did not reply right away.
One US official said that the shipments are part of a larger group of weapons that have been sent to Israel since the war in Gaza started. On Wednesday, a top official in the Biden administration told press that the U.S. has sent $6.5 billion in security aid to Israel since October 7.
In the past few weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Washington was holding back weapons. US officials have rejected this many times, even though they have admitted that there are some “bottlenecks.”
The Biden administration has stopped one shipment of the 2,000-pound bomb because they are worried about how it might affect parts of Gaza with a lot of people. However, US officials say that all other arms deliveries will continue as planned. A 2,000-pound bomb can make a wide blast radius that can cut through thick metal and concrete.
Reuters said on Thursday that the US and Israel are talking about releasing a supply of big bombs that was put on hold in May because of concerns about the military operation in Rafah.
According to the Gaza health ministry, more than 37,000 Palestinians have died in the war, which has destroyed the coastal enclave and drawn more attention from around the world to Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Washington gives its longtime ally $3.8 billion a year in defense aid. As Biden has said, he will put conditions on military aid if Israel doesn’t protect people and let more humanitarian aid into Gaza. So far, all he has done is delay the May shipment.
Supporting Israel in its war against Hamas has become a political risk for Biden as he runs for re-election this year. This is especially true among young Democrats. There were a lot of “uncommitted” protest votes in primaries, and it has led to protests at U.S. colleges in support of the Palestinians.
The US gives specific information about the types and amounts of military aid it sends to Ukraine as it fights a full-scale invasion of Russia. However, the administration has not given as much information about the types and amounts of weapons and ammunition it sends to Israel.
Some of the weapons are being sent as part of arms sales that Congress passed years ago but are only now being carried out. This makes it hard to keep track of the shipments.
Speaking for the US government, one source said that the Pentagon already has enough weapons and has been in touch with companies like Boeing Co. and General Dynamics that make weapons to help them make more.
This story has been fixed so that it no longer talks about $6.5 billion in US “weapons” instead of “security assistance” for Israel in paragraph 9.
