JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs has arrived in Israel, as Marco Rubio began his first visit to the country as Washington’s top diplomat.
“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel, released by the Trump administration, represents a significant asset for the air force and the military and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance” between Israel and the US, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in the statement.
The Trump administration had earlier in February approved the sale of more than $7.4 billion in bombs, missiles, and related equipment to Israel.
The sale “improves Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said at the time.
Israel launched a hugely destructive offensive against Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 in response to an attack by the Palestinian group that month.
The war has devastated much of Gaza, resulting in the displacement of much of its 2.4 million population.
A ceasefire has been in effect since Jan.19, providing for the release of hostages seized by Hamas.
In response to concerns over civilian deaths, former US President Joe Biden’s administration had blocked a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, but Trump reportedly approved them after taking office.
A former Israeli negotiator has said Israel missed two opportunities last year to secure a Gaza truce and hasten hostage releases, prompting a swift rebuttal from the premier’s office.
“In my view, we missed two opportunities to sign an agreement ... in March and July” last year, said Oren Setter, who resigned from the Israeli negotiating team in October, in remarks broadcast on Channel 12.
“We did not do everything we could to bring them back as quickly as possible.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused by opposition figures and some families of hostages of not doing enough to secure their release and torpedoing talks.
On Saturday, his office dismissed Setter’s remarks, stating that “his claims that an agreement could have been reached earlier are entirely baseless.”
“Had the prime minister not stood firm, at least half of the living hostages would not have been freed in the first phase” of an ongoing truce, the statement said.
“As repeatedly testified by senior US officials, Hamas refused to engage in negotiations for months and was the sole obstacle to a deal,” the statement added.
Setter clarified that he wanted to “speak about facts” and argued that the deaths of hostages in captivity and “unnecessary suffering” could have been avoided while still placing primary responsibility for last year’s negotiation deadlock on Hamas.