Trump ‘releases’ heavy bombs to Israel; asks Jordan, Egypt to take Gaza refugees

President Donald Trump has ended his predecessor's hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, lifting a pressure point that had been meant to reduce civilian casualties during the US ally's war with Hamas in Gaza that is now halted by a tenuous ceasefire.

In a post on his Truth Social network Saturday (January 25), Trump said, "A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way!"

“We released them today, and they'll have them. They paid for them. They've been waiting for them for a long time. They've been in storage for a long time. But we released them today to Israel,” Trump said in response to a question.

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A Trump administration official confirmed that he was referring to the heavy bombs.

The official was not authorised to give that detail publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Then-President Joe Biden halted the delivery of the large bombs in May as part of an effort to keep Israel from launching an all-out assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. A month later, Israel did take control of the city, but after the vast majority of the 1 million civilians that had been living or sheltering in Rafah had fled.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres," Biden told CNN in May when he held up the weapons.

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"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah ... I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem." The Biden pause had also held up 1,700 500-pound bombs that had been packaged in the same shipment to Israel, but weeks later those bombs were delivered.

Trump's action, five days into his term, comes as he has celebrated the first phase of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that has paused the fighting and seen the release of some hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Negotiations have yet to begin in earnest on the more difficult second phase of the deal that would eventually see the release of all hostages held by Hamas and an enduring halt to the fighting.

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume its war against Hamas — which launched a massive assault against Israel on October 7, 2023 — if the remaining hostages are not released.

Cleaning out

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinian refugees from Gaza to "clean out" the area, which has been converted into a demolition site due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan on this matter on Saturday and plans to talk with the Egyptian leader as well.

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Trump said that his call with Abdullah II was very good.

"He's a friend of mine. I know him very well. I've gotten along with him over the years very well. He's done a wonderful job. He really houses, you know, millions of Palestinians, and he does it in a very humane way. I compliment him on that,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“I said to him, I'd love you to take on more (Palestinian people from Gaza). I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it's a mess. I'd like him to take people. I'd like Egypt to take people,” he said.

Demolition site

Trump said that he was looking to talk to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday.

“I'd like Egypt to take people. I'd like Jordan to take people. You're talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. Over the centuries that says many, many conflicts inside. Something has to happen," Trump said.

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"It is literally a demolition site right now, almost everything's demolished, and people are dying there. I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace,” he said.

The president said that the potential housing “could be temporary” or “could be long term.”

Israel-Hamas conflict

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas has been taking place in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 after the militant group attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Since then, Israel's campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities there. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have also died in Gaza combat.

Biden froze the delivery in May 2024 in an attempt to prevent Israeli military forces from entering the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

(With inputs from agencies)