Biden paused, Trump delivered: How US bombs keep Gaza burning

The Trump administration has delivered a shipment of 900-kilogram bombs to Israel despite the pause imposed by President Joe Biden in May due to the use of these bunker busters in heavy populated neighbourhoods. The arrival of these bombs and other weaponry coincided with the weekend arrival in the region of Donald Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The bombs - which penetrate concrete structures and bunkers and devastate a wide area - were promptly delivered to Israel's air force. The US has sent at least $25 billion in weapons since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023. Sixty-nine thousand tonnes of military supplies have been delivered to Israel by 678 airlifts and 129 sea shipments.

Trump's decision to lift the suspension of the deal was taken as soon as he took office on January 20th, the day after Israel and Hamas began to enforce the 42-day ceasefire in the Gaza war. Despite his backing for the ceasefire, Trump's decision to transfer the bombs showed he does not intend to use weapons deliveries as leverage to pressure Israel to abide by the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire and proceed to the second and third phases. The three phased truce is meant to end the war and secure full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Trump’s action suits Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who has stated publicly that he wants to resume hostilities at the end of the first phase with the objective of eliminating Hamas as a military, political, and governing body in Gaza. Israeli commentators argue this objective cannot be achieved by the Israeli armed forces but only through negotiations over the future governance of Gaza.

Netanyahu has refused to commit to a post-war scenario for Gaza while Trump has called for the expulsion of 2.3 million Gazans of Jordan and Egypt and the development of the strip as a coastal resort for foreigners. The Arabs reject Trump's proposal and Egypt has put forward its own plan. This calls for the formation of a Palestinian government of technocrats (which Hamas has accepted) and reconstruction of Gaza's devastated urban areas while Gazans temporarily move to farmland. Local security forces would be trained by the Arabs, and donors would finance the project which could cost $53 billion and take five years.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned the US "will be complicit in the Israeli government's grave violations so long as it continues to provide arms and other military aid” which enable Israel to commit "war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide during the country’s assault on Gaza." HRW's chief advocacy officer Bruno Stagno stated, "Trump said the hostilities in Gaza were 'not our war' but 'their war,' but unless the US ends its military support, Gaza will also be Trump's war." HRW pointed out that it, Amnesty International and "dozens of media" have identified "US weapons being used in Israeli attacks that killed and maimed scores of civilians and aid workers and most likely violated international humanitarian law."

HRW said that Israel's onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, of whom most are civilians, and displaced 91 per cent of the population. Israel has also used starvation as a weapon of war by denying deliveries of sufficient humanitarian aid and deprived Gazans of water, medicine, electricity and other essential supplied. Israel has "damaged or destroyed Gaza’s essential infrastructure and the majority of homes, schools, universities, and hospitals. These actions amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide."

HRW cited the International Law Commission which said in a 2001 report, "For instance, a State may incur responsibility if it ... provides material aid to a State that uses the aid to commit human rights violations.”

HRW said, “US forces have provided extensive intelligence that has been used in Israel’s targeting operations and closely coordinated with Israeli forces on planning military operations, as US officials have acknowledged." HRW argued that ex-President Joe Biden said in October 2024 that he “directed Special Operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work side-by-side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track [Hamas chief Yahya] Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza.” Furthermore, news agencies reporting on the Gaza war revealed that the "US military, Central Intelligence Agency, and other US agencies have deployed troops and other operatives to work with Israeli authorities," including "information gleaned from surveillance of tele-communications" and radar used to locate underground tunnels and bunkers. The US also used surveillance drones early in the war, claiming that this was used to locate hostages while sharing intelligence with Israel.

HRW warned, that Trump’s delivery of bunker buster bombs to Israeli forces and call to “clean out that whole thing [Gaza],” would amount “to an alarming escalation in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza." Consequently, HRW declared, “US officials could also be found criminally liable for 'aiding and abetting' war crimes by Israeli forces.”