US set to approve 60,000 heavy bombs for Israel: what that means
Yashraj Sharma reports in Al Jazeera on 16 September 2026:
United States President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to sell 60,000 highly destructive, 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs to Israel in a multibillion-dollar package which will be funded by American taxpayers.
US media has reported that the Trump administration has approved the sale, which features some of the most destructive munitions in Western arsenals, and has informally notified Congress.
This is one of the biggest US munition packages to Israel and comes after nearly three years of genocidal war on Gaza, ongoing pogroms by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and a mighty assault on southern Lebanon – which together have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions in the region. It also comes as the US’s own munitions stockpile has been depleted due to its war on Iran, with the crisis worsened by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
So, what bombs are the US sending to Israel, and what can Israel do with them?
What weapons are the US planning to sell to Israel?
The Trump administration has not officially confirmed this sale yet. A senior administration official told AFP news agency that “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process”, but refused to comment on pending transactions. Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson told AFP that “as a matter of policy, the Department does not confirm or comment on proposed arms sales until they have been formally notified to Congress”.
However, Washington is reported to be on track to deliver a munitions package to Israel that is believed to include 60,000 warheads, including 20,000 MK-84s, 20,000 BLU-117s and 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator.
The sale is worth $2.8bn, the majority of which will be paid for by the US’s Foreign Military Financing scheme, wherein Washington pays Israel from its own taxpayers’ funds to buy American-made weapons and military equipment.
The three types of bomb are:
MK-84: The largest among the Mark 80 series of bombs, this unguided, 2,000-pound (907kg) general-purpose bomb is designed primarily for maximum blast and fragmentation against buildings and moderately protected targets. It can destroy buildings and kill or injure people hundreds of metres from the bomb site.