U.S. Set to Send Israel 40,000 ‘Hammer’ Bombs After Biden Banned Transfer

The Trump administration is seeking congressional approval for a massive arms sale to Israel that includes bombs former President Joe Biden refused to send.

The $2.8 billion package includes thousands of 2,000-pound bombs, according to a U.S. official familiar with the sale, according to The Times of Israel.

The 2,000-pound bombs are used often in Lebanon and Gaza, and are criticized by some human rights groups for causing widespread damage in urban areas.

In 2024, as Israel was fighting Hamas in Gaza, Biden paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because he was worried about civilian casualties. Shipments resumed when President Donald Trump took office.

As reported by The Washington Post, the deal will send 20,000 MK-84 and 20,000 BLU-117 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

The Trump administration is preparing a multibillion-dollar sale of 40,000 bombs that weigh 2,000 pounds each, including 20,000 MK-84s, one official said.

An MK-84 explosion can rip through metal and concrete, and can create large craters in the earth. https://t.co/OBZqGeTtgw pic.twitter.com/gdnNB4Mrqk

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 15, 2026

An additional 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads will be shipped.

All told, The Washington Post reported, this is the largest military sale in recent years.

A White House official said, “All foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”

“They do like to use them a lot when they’re trying to target any building,” Trevor Ball, a former explosive-ordnance-disposal technician for the Army, said of Israel.

“If Hezbollah or whoever is in a building, an MK-84 will bring down the whole building,” he said.

The MK-84 was nicknamed the “hammer” in the first Gulf War.

An MK-84 sends fragments for thousands of feet and can tear through metal and destroy layers of concrete.

Congress has been informally informed of the arms deal. The deal must clear committees in both chambers of Congress and win approval in the House and Senate.

In January, the U.S. approved a deal worth $6.7 billion, as noted by The Times of Israel.

As part of the deal, the U.S. agreed to send Israel 30 Apache attack helicopters and 3,250 light tactical vehicles. The helicopters amounted to about $3.8 billion in the package.

At the time, the State Department said the package would “enhance Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel’s borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers.”

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