The Biden administration has sent to 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 US officials briefed on an updated list of weapons shipments told Reuters on Friday.
Between the war's start last October and recent days, the United States has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions, the officials said.
The delivery numbers, which have not been previously reported, provide the most up-to-date and extensive tally of munitions shipped to Israel since the Gaza war began.
The White House declined to comment. Israel's Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The comments from the US officials follow the White House’s confirmation that it had paused a shipment of bombs to Israel due to US opposition to a planned Israeli attack on the Gazan city of Rafah.
A day later, President Joe Biden warned that he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Subsequently, however, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration notified Congress that it is moving forward with more than $1 billion in new weapons deals for Israel.
On Thursday, Axios reported that the Biden administration is expected to soon release 500-pound bombs that were part of the paused weapons shipment to Israel.
Biden, during the debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday night, insisted he did not hold back munitions from Israel with the exception of 2000-pound bombs which, he said, do not work in populated areas.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)