By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday commended the US President, Donald Trump, for releasing a “crucial defence shipment” to Israel, which had earlier been delayed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Thank you, President Trump, for yet another display of leadership by releasing the crucial defence shipment to Israel,” Saar said on X, adding that the region is safer when “Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
The media had earlier reported that the US President authorised the dispatch of 2,000-pound bombs, which the Biden administration had halted.
On Saturday, Trump stated that a “lot of things” ordered by Israel were now being delivered after reports of his decision to release the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs.
“A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration last year halted shipments of 2,000-pound bombs when it appeared that Israel was poised to launch a major ground operation in heavily populated areas of Gaza, particularly in Rafah, a move that Washington opposed.
Biden had warned that the use of such munitions in these areas would cause “great human tragedy and damage.”
Last week, Israel and Hamas reached a tentative truce aimed at bringing a permanent end to the war in Gaza, which began with the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The truce was holding, with Israel and Hamas exchanging a second group of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners over the weekend.
Trump’s post did not mention any specific weapons being sent to Israel.
However, writing in Axios, prominent Israeli national security journalist Barak Ravid said Trump had ordered the Department of Defense to release the hold Biden had placed on the 2,000-pound bombs.
During his first presidential term, Trump repeatedly boasted that Israel “never had a better friend in the White House,” a sentiment often echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the Trump-Netanyahu relationship soured temporarily after the Israeli leader called Biden to congratulate him on his 2020 election win.
Trump, who falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election, accused Netanyahu of disloyalty, according to multiple media reports at the time.
