US to resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel

President Joe Biden's administration will resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel but will continue to hold back on supplying 2,000-pound bombs over concerns about their use in densely populated Gaza, a US official said on Wednesday.

The US in May paused a shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs due to concern over the impact they could have in Gaza during the war that began with Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 cross-border raid.

The administration's particular concern had been use of such large bombs in Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had taken refuge.

"We’ve been clear that our concern has been on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs, particularly for Israel’s Rafah campaign which they have announced they are concluding," a US official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

Israeli military vehicles operate in the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing. File/Reuters

The US official said the 500-pound bombs were put together in the same shipment with the larger ones that were paused and therefore got held up.

"Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000 lb bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza... Because our concern was not about the 500 lb bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process," the official added.

The US has notified Israel that it is releasing the 500-pound bombs but keeping the hold on the larger ones, a person familiar with the matter said.

In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Washington was withholding weapons, and pleaded with US officials to remedy the situation. Biden's aides expressed disappointment and confusion over the Israeli leader’s remarks.

During his visit to Washington, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said there had been significant progress on the issue of US munitions supply to Israel, adding "obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed."

Despite the pause on one shipment, Israel has continued to receive steady flow of US weaponry.

Reuters