By Humeyra Pamuk and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration has sent Israel large numbers of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, two U.S. officials familiar with an updated report said. List of weapons shipments.
Between the start of the war last October and the final days, the United States transferred at least 14,000 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-surface missiles, and 1,000 bunker-buster missiles. bombs, 2,600 small-diameter air-dropped bombs, and other munitions, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
While officials did not give a timeline for the shipments, the total indicates there has been no significant decline in US military support for its ally, despite international calls to limit arms supplies and the administration’s recent decision to halt a shipment of powerful weapons. Bombs.
The experts said the contents of the shipments appeared consistent with what Israel would need to replenish supplies used in its eight-month-long military campaign in Gaza, launched after an Oct. 7 assault by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
“While these numbers could be spent relatively quickly in a major conflict, this list clearly reflects a significant level of support from the United States to our Israeli allies,” said Tom Karako, an arms expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The ammunition mentioned is of the type that Israel will use in its war against Hamas or in a potential conflict with Hezbollah.
The delivery figures, which have not been previously announced, provide the latest and most comprehensive tally of munitions shipped to Israel since the Gaza war began.
Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since the start of the war in Gaza, and there is growing concern that a full-scale war could break out between the two sides.
The White House declined to comment, and the Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shipments are part of a larger list of weapons sent to Israel since the Gaza conflict began, a U.S. official said. A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Wednesday that Washington has sent $6.5 billion in security assistance to Israel since Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed in recent weeks that Washington is withholding weapons, a claim that U.S. officials have repeatedly denied, although they have acknowledged some “obstacles.”
The Biden administration has halted one shipment of the 2,000-pound bomb, citing concerns about the impact it could have in densely populated areas of Gaza, but U.S. officials insist all other deliveries are continuing as normal. A single 2,000-pound bomb can penetrate thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States was discussing with Israel the launch of a shipment of large bombs that had been suspended in May due to concerns about the military operation in Rafah.
International scrutiny of Israel’s military operation in Gaza has intensified as the Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 37,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry, leaving the coastal enclave completely devastated.
Washington provides annual military aid worth $3.8 billion to its old ally. While Biden warned that he would place conditions on military aid if Israel failed to protect civilians and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, he did not do so beyond delaying the May shipment.
Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas has emerged as a political liability, especially among younger Democrats, as he runs for re-election this year. It sparked a wave of “uncommitted” protest votes in the primaries and led to pro-Palestinian protests on American college campuses.
While the United States provides detailed descriptions and quantities of military aid sent to Ukraine as it fights a full-scale Russian invasion, the administration has revealed few details about the full extent of American weapons and munitions sent to Israel.
It’s also difficult to track these shipments because some of the weapons are shipped as part of arms sales that Congress approved years ago but have only now implemented.
One US official said the Pentagon has sufficient quantities of weapons in its own stockpiles and has been in contact with US industry partners that manufacture weapons, such as Boeing and General Dynamics, as the companies are working to manufacture more.
(This story has been corrected to correct reference to $6.5 billion in U.S. “security assistance” to Israel instead of “arms” in paragraph 9.)