The US has given Israel a massive number of heavy munitions since October 7, including 14,000 of the highly destructive MK-84 2,000-pound bombs that have been repeatedly dropped on civilians in Gaza, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Two US officials told Reuters that the US has also sent 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 small-diameter bombs, and other munitions.
The large number of munitions demonstrates the fact that the Biden administration’s pause on a shipment of powerful bombs did not have a real impact on US military support for Israel. Axios reported on June 27 that the US has approved the transfer of 1,700 500-pound bombs that were part of the paused shipment.
An administration official told reporters last week that the US has provided Israel with $6.5 billion worth of weapons since October 7 to support the slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. The administration has vowed Israel will receive all of the $17 billion in additional military aid that was included in the $95 billion bill President Biden signed into law in April.
Despite the massive support, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently accused the US of withholding military aid, a claim the White House called “inaccurate.” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Washington last week, and US officials worked to assure him they were doing everything they could to get Israel all the weapons it wants.
During his visit, Gallant said Israel’s ties with the US were the “second-most important element for Israel’s security” after Israel’s own military. “We need American diplomatic and political support, power projection, supply of munition and more,” he said, according to The Washington Post.
Gallant, who has recently publicly clashed with Netanyahu, was pleased with the progress he made in Washington related to “bottlenecks” that impact the speed of US weapons shipments. “Obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed in order to advance a variety of issues, and more specifically the topic of force build up and munition supply,” he said.
