Trump administration plans $2.8bn sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel

Trump administration’s plan to ship a $2.8bn bomb sale to Israel sparks criticism over mass targeting of civilians in the region.

A view of destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border on August 25, 2026 [File: Amir Cohen/Reuters]

The Trump administration is preparing to sell Israel a $2.8bn package of 907kg (2,000-pound) bombs, the largest single sale of the munition in recent years, according to reports by the Washington Post and the AFP news agency.

The package, funded through Foreign Military Financing – a mechanism in which Washington provides the money Israel then uses to buy US weapons – includes 40,000 bombs: 20,000 MK-84 general-purpose bombs and 20,000 BLU-117s, a thermally coated variant of the MK-84 designed for safer naval storage, along with I-2000 Penetrator warheads built to strike hardened, underground structures.

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According to the Post, the MK-84, nicknamed the “hammer” by US pilots in the first Gulf War, is among the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, sending metal fragments outward for hundreds of metres and capable of tearing through thick concrete.

“An American-made Mark 84 has a destruction radius of half a mile,” conservative commentator Tucker Carlson wrote on X, citing an unnamed federal official. “It releases a thermal wave the temperature of the surface of the sun… The bomb collapses apartment buildings and leaves craters thirty-five feet deep.”

The deal has been informally notified to congressional committees.

The Post reported that a senior administration official said only that “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process,” while the State Department said it does not comment on proposed sales before formal notification to Congress.

Israel has used 907kg bombs hundreds of times in Gaza and Lebanon, including in areas it had designated safe for civilians, drawing sustained criticism from rights groups.

Former US President Joe Biden’s administration paused a single such shipment in 2024 over civilian casualty concerns – the only munition it withheld during the Gaza genocide – before Trump reversed that pause in his first month back in office.

The sale lands amid growing strain between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rising bipartisan unease in Washington over unconditional military support.

An Israeli military site is seen in the background behind destroyed residential buildings in the al-Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, on September 10, 2026 [File: Mohammed Saber/EPA]

US Senator Chris Van Hollen said he would work to block the sale, accusing Trump of “sending bombs paid for by American taxpayers to a government led by a wanted war criminal”.

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote: “We did not vote for this. America does not support this. Our tax dollars and weapons have been used to kill tens of thousands of innocent people.”

Carlson called the roughly $3bn package “a gift” to the Israeli government, which is “working to exterminate an unarmed civilian population in Gaza”, calling for senators and US lawmakers to block the deal.

Brian Finucane, senior adviser with the US Program at the International Crisis Group, said the sale “sends a vote of confidence to Israel”, even if unintentionally, at a moment when the administration says it wants to calm the region. Analysts see the timing as deliberate on Israel’s part, seeking to lock in expansive US military backing now, wary that a future administration may prove less reliably unconditional.

特朗普政府计划向以色列出售价值 28 亿美元的炸弹，引发了人们对该地区大规模袭击平民的批评。

2026年8月25日，从以色列一侧的以色列-加沙边境拍摄的加沙地带被毁建筑物照片。[图片：Amir Cohen/路透社]

据《华盛顿邮报》和法新社报道，特朗普政府正准备向以色列出售价值 28 亿美元的 907 公斤（2000 磅）炸弹，这是近年来该类弹药的最大单笔销售。

该方案通过对外军事融资（一种华盛顿提供资金，以色列用这些资金购买美国武器的机制）提供资金，其中包括 40,000 枚炸弹：20,000 枚 MK-84 通用炸弹和 20,000 枚 BLU-117 炸弹（MK-84 的一种热涂层变体，专为更安全的海军储存而设计），以及用于打击加固地下结构的 I-2000 穿透弹头。

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据《华盛顿邮报》报道，MK-84 导弹在第一次海湾战争中被美国飞行员戏称为“铁锤”，是西方军火库中最具破坏性的弹药之一，可将金属碎片射向数百米远，并能撕裂厚厚的混凝土。

保守派评论员塔克·卡尔森在X网站上援引一位不愿透露姓名的联邦官员的话写道：“美国制造的Mark 84型炸弹的破坏半径为半英里。它会释放出温度堪比太阳表面的热波……这种炸弹能摧毁公寓楼，并留下35英尺深的弹坑。”

该交易已非正式地通知国会各委员会。

《华盛顿邮报》报道称，一位高级政府官员仅表示“所有对外武器销售都在按照适当的程序进行”，而国务院则表示，在正式通知国会之前，不会对拟议的销售发表评论。

以色列在加沙和黎巴嫩数百次使用907公斤炸弹，包括在它指定的平民安全区，这招致了人权组织的持续批评。

美国前总统乔·拜登的政府曾因担心平民伤亡而暂停了2024年的一次此类运输——这是加沙种族灭绝期间美国政府唯一扣留的弹药——之后，特朗普在上任后的第一个月就推翻了这一暂停决定。

此次军售正值特朗普与以色列总理内塔尼亚胡关系日益紧张，以及华盛顿两党对无条件军事支持日益感到不安之际。

2026年9月10日，在加沙城东部的谢赫拉德万社区，被毁的居民楼后方可以看到以色列军事基地。[图片：Mohammed Saber/EPA]

美国参议员克里斯·范霍伦表示，他将努力阻止这笔军售，并指责特朗普“将美国纳税人出资购买的炸弹送给一个由被通缉的战争罪犯领导的政府”。

前国会议员玛乔丽·泰勒·格林写道：“我们没有投票支持这项政策。美国人民不支持这项政策。我们的税款和武器被用来杀害了成千上万的无辜民众。”

卡尔森称这项价值约 30 亿美元的援助计划是送给以色列政府的“礼物”，以色列政府“正在努力消灭加沙地带手无寸铁的平民”，他呼吁参议员和美国议员阻止这项协议。

国际危机组织美国项目高级顾问布莱恩·芬努凯恩表示，此次军售“向以色列投下了信任票”，即便并非有意为之，尤其是在美国政府声称希望缓和地区局势之际。分析人士认为，以色列选择此时出手是经过深思熟虑的，意在锁定美国广泛的军事支持，因为他们担心未来的美国政府可能不会像现在这样无条件地提供支持。