Trump plans $2.8bn sale of 40,000 heavy bombs to Israel

The Trump administration is preparing a $2.8 billion weapons package for Israel containing 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, despite longstanding concerns over the devastating impact of the munitions on civilians in Gaza.

The proposed package includes 20,000 MK-84 bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 bombs, according to a US official familiar with the plans cited by Reuters. Relevant congressional committees have been informed informally of the planned sale, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

Read: US approves $3 billion military sales to Israel amid ceasefire talks

Most of the package would be paid for through US Foreign Military Financing, according to Associated Press. Under that programme, Washington provides funds that Israel uses to purchase American weapons, meaning US taxpayers would finance much of the transfer.

The proposed is said to be the largest transfer during a single sale of munitions in recent years. It reported that the package also includes I-2000 penetrator warheads intended for attacks on hardened underground targets.

The proposal has prompted criticism from US political figures across party lines.

“How big is this shipment?” asked Tucker Carlson. “It amounts to 40,000 tons of bombs. For perspective, the largest American air raid of World War Two was the Eighth Air Force’s attack on Berlin in March of 1945. Combined, the 2,023 Allied aircraft involved dropped about 3,000 tons of bombs. That’s 7.5 percent of what Trump is sending to Israel”.

Further highlighting the size of the shipment, Carlson went on to say that March1945, “the US Army Air Forces began the single most destructive bombing raid in human history, Operation Meetinghouse over Tokyo. More than 100,000 Japanese civilians were killed. By the end of that operation, the US had dropped 1,600 tons of bombs. That’s four percent of what Trump is sending to Israel”.

After pointing out that the Israel was not fighting a World War it was nevertheless receiving more bombs in a single shipment than in any of the major battles cited by Calrson. “It’s hard to overstate the scale of the crime the Israeli government is committing in Gaza”, he concluded.

According to an informed federal official, in the coming months the Trump administration plans to send a total of 40,000 Mark 84 and Blu-117 bombs to the government of Israel. Each bomb weighs 2,000 pounds. This appears to be the largest transfer of conventional explosive…

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 15, 2026

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen pledged to oppose the sale. “This is not putting Americans first”, Van Hollen is reporting saying. “We will work to stop it.”

The planned transfer comes as the reported Palestinian death toll in Gaza exceeds 73,000. The agency also noted that a United Nations inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.