President Donald Trump announced that a shipment of 2,000-pound aerial bombs, held by Biden due to fears of causing excessive civilian casualties, would be released to Israel, as they "paid for it," as he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement today (Sunday) thanking the President for freeing up this shipment, whose delivery had been delayed for months under the Biden administration.
But why are these bombs so important for the IDF?
Brigadier General (res.) Israel Shafir, who commanded IDF bases and an IDF squadron explained why to Globes.
According to Shafir, the weight of the bomb allows it to penetrate more deeply than other bombs. This is particularly important given how much Hamas and other terrorist groups rely on tunnels and underground infrastructure to hide weapons and terrorists and use it for ambushes against IDF troops.
Shafir said that all military planes use these bombs, and that their weight, delayed timers, or use in pairs can allow for more effective and precise bombardment, especially when combined with attached GPS devices.
Globes said that the United States provided Israel with some 14,100 such bombs throughout the Iron Swords War, with each bomb costing about $16,000 on average.
The Biden administration had decided to put a hold on the bombs as part of an effort to dissuade Israel from sending the IDF into Rafah and to try and prevent further intense fighting with Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly complained about the hold in video statements released in English, and he and others implied it was an effective "arms embargo" against Israel, joining with other such efforts in Britain, France, and elsewhere.
The United States also reportedly provided Israel with tens of thousands of heavy artillery shells, as well as a range of other military equipment to fight the heavily entrenched Hamas forces.
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