A shipment of U.S. 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs arrived in Israel over the weekend, ending a nine-month embargo put in place by the Biden administration because of fears of the impact on the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
A ship carrying the bombs docked Saturday at the Port of Ashdod. The munitions were loaded onto trucks and shipped to Israeli Air Force bases around the country, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
President Donald Trump reversed his predecessor’s freeze on the shipment of MK-84 bombs soon after taking office. The move comes as Israel is engaged in a fragile ceasefire with Palestinian Hamas militants as the latest round of fighting passes the 500-day mark.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the munitions shipment 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.”
Mr. Katz said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed America’s commitment to continue providing Israel with “all necessary tools” to ensure its security.
“I thank President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration for their unwavering support of the State of Israel,” Mr. Katz said. “We will continue working together to strengthen our security.”
Mr. Biden approved a partial curb on arms shipments to Israel in clashes with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including fierce IDF campaigns targeting Hamas fighters in some of the Gaza enclave’s most populous cities.
Uncorroborated estimates by Palestinian officials put the civilian and military death toll from the fighting sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terror rampage across southern Israel at more than 46,000.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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