US President Donald Trump's administration is planning to sell to Israel a munitions package worth $2.8 billion, which will include tens of thousands of highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs used in Gaza genocide, multiple US media outlets reported.
The proposed package includes 20,000 MK-84 bombs, 20,000 BLU-117 bombs and 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The weapons would be purchased with US taxpayer funds.
Reuters news agency also reported that the planned sale, which has been informally communicated to relevant congressional committees who weigh in on large arms sales, includes 20,000 MK 84s and 20,000 BLU-117s.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza genocide began in 2023, particularly among Democrats.
A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent when the question was first asked in 2017.
The MK-84 is among the most destructive conventional munitions in Western military arsenals. Its blast can propel metal fragments thousands of feet, penetrate thick concrete and metal and create large craters.
The proposed package would exceed previous US transfers of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel under both the Biden and Trump administrations.
It would also be larger than a controversial $2.04 billion arms sale approved in 2025 that bypassed the standard congressional review process.
Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive-ordnance-disposal technician, described Israel's use of the weapons, saying they are frequently employed when targeting buildings.
"If Hezbollah or whoever is in a building, an MK-84 will bring down the whole building," Ball said.
The MK-84 was nicknamed the "hammer" by US pilots during the 1991 Gulf War. It was the only munition whose shipment to Israel was temporarily suspended by former President Joe Biden in 2024 after civilian casualties mounted.
Trump reversed the policy in January 2025.
Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, said there are "real concerns" over how such weapons could be used in densely populated areas, given Israel’s conduct of its air campaign in Gaza and, to some extent, in southern Lebanon.
The news of the planned sale has sparked outrage among critics of the Trump administration and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Fury on social media
US conservative commentator Tucker Carlson compares the planned shipment's destructive power to major WW2 bombing operations, noting it exceeds the Berlin raid by over 13 times, the Tokyo firebombing by 25 times, and equates to more than three times the yield of the Hiroshima atomic bomb in explosive tonnage.
Carlson alleged the approval chain involving US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and key congressional figures, framing the transfers as taxpayer-funded aid continuing use in Gaza and Lebanon while urging public attention to prevent escalation.
"There is no precedent for what the Trump administration is doing. Nor is there a justification," he said.
"The government of Israel is not fighting World War Two, or even a war. It is engaged in periodic skirmishes with a guerrilla force in Lebanon, and it is working to exterminate an unarmed civilian population in Gaza. Neither front requires modern 2,000-pound bombs," he added.
Writing on X, former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated that Americans did not vote for this policy.
"America does not support this. Our tax dollars and weapons have been used to kill tens of thousands of innocent people. My God, what comes next?" said Greene, who was once US President Donald Trump’s most vocal defenders.
The 2,000-pound bombs have been regularly used by Israel in Gaza genocide as well as in Lebanon, drawing scrutiny from rights experts.
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza. A UN inquiry determined that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Analysts warn that the reported death toll is an undercount, with the actual figure potentially reaching as high as 200,000. Israel continues to occupy 60 percent of Gaza where bodies of thousands of Palestinians still lie under bombed homes and infrastructure.
