WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration is preparing a multibillion-dollar sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, which would be the largest single sale of the controversial munition in recent years, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The package worth 2.8 billion U.S. dollars includes 40,000 bombs that weigh 2,000 pounds each, including 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, said the report, citing a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The sale also includes 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads, the report added.
Among the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals, the MK-84 can send metal fragments flying thousands of feet in every direction upon detonation, tear through metal and thick concrete, and often leave large craters in the earth, the report noted.
The 2,000-pound bombs have been employed by Israel on hundreds of occasions in Gaza and Lebanon, playing a significant role in the death toll of those conflicts. Israel has drawn criticism for routinely dropping MK-84s in zones it designated as safe for civilians in Gaza.
Though described as a sale, the transaction is financed through a mechanism known as Foreign Military Financing, in which the United States provides the money that Israel uses to buy the weapons, according to the report.
The pending transaction has been informally notified to congressional committees and the White House is pressing the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to approve the sale, said the report. ■
