Written by Steve Holland, Nandita Bose and Nishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had ordered the U.S. military to issue a hold imposed by former Democratic President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,000 pounds to Israel.
The move was widely expected.
“We launched them. We launched them today. They will be theirs. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage,” Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force.
Biden placed a hold on the delivery of those bombs out of concern about the impact they could have on the civilian population, especially in the Gaza Strip, during Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave.
A single 2,000-pound bomb can tear through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius. Reuters reported last year that the Biden administration had sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel after the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militant Hamas from Gaza but placed a single shipment.
Washington has announced billions of dollars in aid to Israel since the war began.
When asked why the powerful bombs were released, Trump replied, “Because they bought them.”
Earlier Saturday, Trump said on the Social Truth platform, “A lot of things that were requested and paid for by Israel, but not sent by Biden, are on their way now!”
Trump and Biden have been strong supporters of Israel’s American ally, even as Washington has come under fire from human rights advocates over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel’s military assault. Protesters have unsuccessfully called for a ban on weapons.
Washington says it is helping Israel defend against Iranian-backed militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
The Gaza pause in Gaza took effect a week ago and led to the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Before his inauguration on January 20, Trump warned that it would be “hell to pay” if hostages were not released by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas took about 250 hostages during a 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to the Israeli. It sparked the last bloodshed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 people, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. It also displaced almost the entire population of Gaza and caused a hunger crisis.
