US plans to send bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons deal

The US is planning to deliver a package of 40,000 powerful bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal. The $2.8 billion (€2.42 billion) deal includes 2,000-pound (900 kg) Mk84 and BLU-117 aircraft bombs, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on condition of anonymity.The same weapons prompted concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza, and their delivery was put on hold by the the Biden administration two years ago. Trump lifted that hold when he took office again.Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal, most of which is to be paid for with foreign military financing — in which US taxpayer dollars are given to Israel to turn around and buy the weapons from the United States.The proposed deal is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israel's military capacity. The conflict in Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and has decimated the enclave. The US had brokered a fragile ceasefire, but violence has continued.The package, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post, comes as Israel has faced increasing international isolation over its war in Gaza in response to the deadly attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023.The sale signals that while the relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly strained, the US-Israel military relationship has not significantly weakened.The two countries launched the war against Iran in February. Trump had expressed frustration with Netanyahu tied to the Iran conflict before their latest meeting in July at the White House.Last year, the Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review process and approved a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel that included more than 35,500 of the bombs. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totalling $6.67 billion in January.