WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has rescinded his predecessor’s decision to send 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, removing a pressure point to reduce civilian casualties during the U.S. ally’s war with Hamas in Gaza. which has now been halted by a tenuous ceasefire.
In a post on his Truth social network on Saturday, Trump said, “A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but not sent by Biden, are now on the way!” A Trump administration official confirmed that he was referring to heavy bombs. The official was not authorized to provide those details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Then-President Joe Biden halted deliveries of the large bombs in May in an effort to deter Israel from launching an all-out attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. A month later, Israel captured the city, but most of the 1 million civilians living or seeking refuge in Rafah had fled.
“Civilians have died in Gaza as a result of those bombs and other methods of going after population centers,” Biden said while showing off the weapons to CNN in May. “I have made it clear that if they go into Rafah… I am not supplying the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, which are the problem. Let’s deal with it.”
Biden’s freeze also stopped 1,700 500-pound bombs that were packed in the same shipment to Israel, but those bombs were delivered weeks later.
Trump’s action, five days into his term, came as he celebrated the first phase of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, halting fighting and releasing some hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. to be done. Israel. Negotiations have yet to begin in earnest on a more difficult phase two agreement, which would ultimately lead to the release of all hostages held by Hamas and a permanent halt to fighting.
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume its war against Hamas – which launched a massive attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 – unless the remaining hostages are released.