The United States has made the decision to resume a shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel, after previously halting deliveries back in May due to concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza. While the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs remains on hold, the supply of 1,700 500-pound bombs will move forward.
This move comes after pressure from Israeli officials and pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States, demanding the resumption of all weapons shipments regardless of their lethality. Despite the pressure, U.S. officials stated that the 500-pound bombs were never a serious concern for the Biden administration.
An anonymous U.S. official explained that other munitions may sometimes be co-mingled in shipments, and the main concern had been the potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has slowed somewhat, but strikes continue to result in mass-casualty events, including a recent strike at a school that killed at least 25 people.
The decision to partially lift the pause in U.S. shipments was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12. Initially, the United States suspended the provision of large bombs as a warning about a planned invasion of Rafah by Israeli forces. President Biden had deemed such an operation a “red line,” but U.S. officials later stated that Israel’s actions in Rafah did not cross that line.
Despite the resumption of 500-pound bomb shipments, concerns remain about their destructive power in densely populated areas like Gaza. Janet Abou-Elias, a research fellow at the Center for International Policy, emphasized that both 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs can cause immense destruction and civilian casualties in such environments.
