The US Started Sending 227-kilogram MK-82 Bombs to Israel for the Gaza War
The US administration has again started shipping MK-82 bombs of about 227 kgs each to Israel after it stopped supplying both one-ton bombs and these for about two months. The suspension was after May 7 due to Israel’s aggression on Rafah in the southern part of Gaza. Earlier, Israel used one-ton MK-85 bombs, which they also received from the US, which killed hundreds of Palestinians in the Jibaliya, Nusayrat and Shati camps in Gaza.
Even on the eve of the raid on Rafah, the US was buying 1,800 one-ton bombs and 1,700 227-kg bombs for the Israeli military. Nevertheless, this shipment was stopped following the attack. In an about-to-go-viral video posted in late June pally, Netanyahu accused the US of halting the provision of bombs and offended Biden. This eventually meant that the expected meetings between the two countries had to be called off.
This channel reported unauthorised senior US officials that officials halted the delivery of one-ton bombs because of fear of their effect on areas such as Rafah, which is heavily populated. They noted that the 227-kilo bombs, less dangerous to the public, are still being transported as usual.
The MK-82 bombs, which are again supplied smoothly, can wipe out every object within a 20-metre circle. On the other hand, the one-ton MK-85, as used by Israel in its raid on Jibaliya Camp in December, levelled out an entire locality. The MK-82 bombs are used against targets more petite than the Tent City, considerably different from the dimensions of the Iskander warhead. Moreover, recently, Israeli forces have committed heinous acts of terror in the Tent Cities, where hundreds of families displaced by previous attacks are living.
Reuters agency reported that since October 7, the US administration has sent one-ton MK-84 bombs in 14,000 and 6,500 227-kilogram MK-82 bombs to Israel. It has also shipped 3000 Hellfire air-to-ground guided missiles, 1000 bunker bombs, and 2600 mini-scale bombs. The Israeli army has effectively used these bombs, and currently, Gaza is said to have been 85 per cent reduced.
Due to the long-standing war, AMR estimates that more than 38,300 Palestinians have been killed: the human toll of the fighting and the effects of the American weaponry and arms supplied to the region.
The re-shipment of bombs under these circumstances indicates how contentious international military aid and its consequences on the ground may well be.
