A shipment of 2,000-pound bombs arrived in Israel from the U.S. over the weekend, the first such shipment since former President Joe Biden put a hold on the heavy munitions.
President Donald Trump lifted the hold on the MK-84 bombs when he entered office, restarting the flow of the heavy bombs to Israel. On Sunday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced the arrival of the first shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in roughly nine months.
“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“In our recent conversation, Secretary of Defense, HON Pete Hegseth reaffirmed America’s commitment to continue providing Israel with all necessary tools to ensure its security,” he added. “I thank President Donald Trump and the U.S. Administration for their unwavering support of the State of Israel. We will continue working together to strengthen our security.”
The arrival of the bombs coincided with a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials. Rubio emphasized Iran’s key role in supporting terrorism throughout the region and specifically against Israel.
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“It’s important to constantly point that whether we talk about Hamas or we talk about Hezbollah, we talk about violence in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), or we talk about destabilization in Syria, or we talk about any of these issues the militias in Iraq, they all have behind them one common theme – Iran,” Rubio said, according to CNN. “That must be addressed.”
Israel is currently under a tenuous ceasefire with Hamas while hostages, who have been held and tortured by the terror group for 500 days, continue to trickle out of Gaza. The ceasefire agreement has yet to reach its second phase, which would involve the release of 19 Israel Defense Forces members believed to be alive.
The ceasefire held through the weekend after Hamas released three more hostages, including one duel national of the United States and Israel: Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36. In return, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
