Sept. 17 (UPI) — Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has placed a hold on the Trump administration’s recently disclosed purposed $2.8 billion bombs sale to Israel.
Meeks, D-N.Y., announced the hold on Wednesday, saying in a statement that he did so over concerns that the munitions could be used in violation of U.S. and international law.
“I remain firmly committed to Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself against serious regional threats. But the Trump administration’s proposed sale of 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, some of the most destructive munitions in our arsenal, raises grave, unresolved concerns about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza,” he said.
“The Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians. I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.”
Meeks imposed his hold after The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was preparing the package of bombs, the largest single sale of this type of munition in years, most of which would be financed with U.S. taxpayer dollars through the Foreign Military Financing program.
The package includes 20,000 MK-84s, 20,000 BLU-17s and 20,000 penetrator warheads, The Post reported.
The previous Biden administration had paused a shipment of bombs, including 2,000-pound bombs, in May 2024, as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering an invasion of Rafah where some 1.4 million Palestinians were estimated to be sheltering at that time and amid a ballooning death toll caused by Israel’s war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump lifted the pause, ordering the withheld 2,000-pound bombs released to Israel, days after returning to office in January 2025.
Following reports of the pending deal, Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and a senior fellow at Yale University, said that Trump’s approval of the bomb sale could leave “him vulnerable to International Criminal Court prosecution for aiding and abetting war crimes.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., wrote a two-word caption while reposting The Post’s article online: “Hell NO.”
Source: U.S. News
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