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WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has shipped large quantities of munitions to Israel since the start of the Gaza war, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, said two U.S. officials briefed on an updated list of arms shipments.
Since the war began last October and in recent days, the United States has handed over 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-busting bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small bombs and other munitions, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly.
While officials did not provide a timeline for the deliveries, the overall figures suggest that there has been no significant decline in U.S. military support for its ally, despite international calls for limits on arms shipments and the U.S. government’s recent decision to suspend delivery of a shipment of high-yield bombs.
Experts said the contents of the shipments appear to match what Israel needs to replenish its supplies for the eight-month intensive military campaign in Gaza, which began after the October 7 Hamas attack in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
“While these numbers could be depleted relatively quickly in a larger conflict, this list clearly reflects a significant level of support from the United States for our Israeli allies,” said Tom Karako, a weapons expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, adding that the munitions listed are the type Israel would use in the fight against Hamas or in a potential conflict with Hezbollah.
The delivery figures, which have not been published before, represent the most recent and comprehensive count of ammunition delivered to Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war.
Since the Gaza war began, Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading blows, and concerns are growing that open war could break out between the two sides.
The White House declined to comment. The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shipments are part of a longer list of weapons sent to Israel since the Gaza conflict began, one of the U.S. officials said. A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Wednesday that Washington has sent $6.5 billion worth of security assistance to Israel since Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed in recent weeks that Washington is holding back weapons. US officials have repeatedly rejected this assumption, although they have acknowledged certain “shortages”.
The Biden administration has suspended a shipment of the 2,000-pound bomb over concerns about the impact it could have in densely populated areas in Gaza, but U.S. officials insist all other weapons shipments will continue as usual. A 2,000-pound bomb can tear through thick concrete and metal and create a large blast radius.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States is negotiating with Israel to release a shipment of large bombs that was suspended in May over concerns about the military operation in Rafah.
International scrutiny of Israel’s military operation in Gaza has increased as the number of Palestinian deaths from the war rose to over 37,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and the coastal enclave lies in ruins.
Washington provides $3.8 billion in annual military aid to its long-time ally. While Biden has threatened to attach conditions to the military aid if Israel fails to protect civilians and allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, he has so far failed to do so, other than delaying the delivery in May.
Biden’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas has proven to be a political liability, especially among young Democrats running for re-election this year, sparking a wave of “undecided” protest votes in the primaries and leading to pro-Palestinian protests at US universities.
While the United States provides detailed descriptions and disclosures about the extent of military aid to Ukraine in its fight against a large-scale Russian invasion, the administration has revealed few details about the full extent of U.S. arms and munitions supplies to Israel.
The shipments are also difficult to track because some of the weapons are being shipped as part of arms sales that Congress approved years ago but are only now being implemented.
One of the U.S. officials said the Pentagon has sufficient weapons stockpiles of its own and is in contact with U.S. industrial partners that produce those weapons, such as Boeing Co. and General Dynamics, as those companies work to produce more weapons.