MK 84s, BLU-117s: Inside Trump's Plan To Sell Mega-Powerful Arms To Israel

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly planning to sell 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in the largest single sale of the controversial munition in recent years. The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 of the bombs that weigh 2,000 pounds each, including 20,000 MK 84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, agencies reported, citing US officials.

News about the sale of the package was first reported by the Washington Post. The report said the deal, which would be purchased with US taxpayer dollars, also includes 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads.

The Gaza Concerns

MK-84 is among the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals. Its explosion sends large metal fragments in every direction for thousands of feet, ripping through metal and thick concrete. It's so powerful that it often creates large craters in the earth. 

Israel has used these 2,000-pound bombs regularly in Gaza as well as in Lebanon, drawing scrutiny from rights experts and prompting concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza, following which the Biden administration paused its delivery two years ago. Trump lifted that hold when he took office again.

Trump-Netanyahu Ties

The package comes as Israel has faced increasing international isolation over its war in Gaza in response to the deadly October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. The US Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal, most of which is to be paid for with foreign military financing, in which US taxpayers' money is given to Israel to turn around and buy the weapons from the United States.

The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israel's military capacity. It signals that some warmth may have returned in the increasingly deteriorating personal ties between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially since the two countries launched the war against Iran in February.

Last year also, the Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review process and approved a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel that included more than 35,500 of the bombs. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totalling $6.67 billion in January.

Israel's Record

Though the Israeli military has offered few details about what bombs and artillery it has used in Gaza, experts analysing strike footage and blast fragments found on-site believe the US-made bombs have been used there, targeting a tunnel network used by Hamas but also killing people in densely populated areas.

While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since the fragile ceasefire took hold in October, Israel has continued to carry out strikes in the territory. That is even after Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a key Middle East negotiator, met with Netanyahu last month in an effort to push the ceasefire deal forward and asked Israel to reduce its attacks.

More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign, according to Gaza health authorities. A US inquiry determined that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel rejects.

Tel Aviv calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people ​and took more than 250 hostages in an October 2023 attack.