The United States has sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel since October 7 By Reuters

By Humeyra Pamuk and Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration has sent Israel large quantities of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, two U.S. officials briefed on a report said. updated list of weapons shipments.

Since the start of the war last October and the past few days, the United States has transferred at least 14,000 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-surface missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-delivered small-diameter bombs and other munitions, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Although officials did not give a timeline for shipments, the totals suggest there has been no significant drop in U.S. military support for its ally, despite international calls to limit weapons supplies and a recent decision by the U.S. administration. pause a delivery of powerful bombs.

Experts said the contents of the shipments appear consistent with what Israel would need to replenish supplies used in this eight-month-long military campaign in Gaza, which it launched after the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage, according to Israeli counts.

“While these figures could be expended relatively quickly in a major conflict, this list clearly reflects a substantial level of US support for our Israeli allies,” said Tom Karako, a weapons expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, adding that the munitions listed were of the type Israel would use in its fight against Hamas or in a potential conflict with Hezbollah.

The delivery figures, which have not been previously reported, provide the most up-to-date and extensive count of munitions sent to Israel since the Gaza war began.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since the start of the Gaza war, and concerns are growing that an all-out war could break out between the two sides.

The White House declined to comment. Israel's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The shipments are part of a broader list of weapons sent to Israel since the Gaza conflict began, one of the U.S. officials said. A senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday that Washington has sent $6.5 billion worth of security assistance to Israel since Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed in recent weeks that Washington was holding back weapons, a suggestion that US officials have repeatedly denied while acknowledging some “bottlenecks.”

The Biden administration has suspended a shipment of the 2,000-pound bomb, citing concerns about the impact it could have on densely populated areas of Gaza, but U.S. officials insist all other weapons deliveries are continuing as normal. A 2,000-pound bomb can penetrate thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States is discussing with Israel the release of a shipment of large bombs that was suspended in May over concerns about the military operation in Rafah.

International scrutiny of Israel's military operation in Gaza has intensified as the Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 37,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, leaving the coastal enclave in ruins.

Washington provides $3.8 billion in annual military aid to its longtime ally. While Biden has warned he would put conditions on military aid if Israel does not protect civilians and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, he has not done so beyond delaying the May shipment.

Biden's support for Israel in its war against Hamas has become a political liability, particularly among young Democrats, as he runs for re-election this year. She fueled a wave of “unengaged” protest votes in the primaries and has fueled pro-Palestinian protests at American universities.

While the United States provides detailed descriptions and quantities of military aid sent to Ukraine as it fights a full-scale invasion by Russia, the administration has revealed few details about the full extent of American weapons and ammunition sent to Israel.

Shipments are also difficult to track because some of the weapons are shipped as part of gun sales approved by Congress years ago but only now being fulfilled.

One of the U.S. officials said the Pentagon has sufficient quantities of the weapons in its own stockpiles and had been in contact with U.S. industrial partners that make the weapons, such as Boeing (NYSE:) Co and General Dynamics (NYSE:), as the companies work to make more.

(This story has been corrected to correct reference to $6.5 billion of US “security assistance” to Israel instead of “weapons” in paragraph 9)