When President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, weapons shipments previously halted by the Biden State Department to the Israeli government were sent out the door - including 2000 pound bombs.
"The U.S. authorized the release of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, Jan. 25, 2025, a munition that had previously been held back. The president told reporters at the time that those weapons had been paid for and that Israel had been waiting 'a long time' for their delivery," DOD News reported.
Since then, Hamas has released a number of starved and beaten hostages, including Americans, during sickening propaganda parades and celebrations. They did this when they returned the bodies of October 7th's youngest victims, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. Their mother, Shira, was not returned until a day later after terrorists deliberately sent a random woman's body in a locked casket. All of them were murdered and mutilated.
These scenes prompted Trump to tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "do whatever he wants" and explained multiple times from the Oval Office he was "losing patience" with Hamas.
“Hamas has been a disaster… I watched the hostages come back today. And they looked like Holocaust survivors, they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated... I don't know how much longer we can take that.” –President Trump pic.twitter.com/Ku7gHaEjvk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 9, 2025
Late Saturday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an emergency approval of $2 billion in additional weapons.
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"I have signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump," Rubio released in a statement. "Since taking office, the Trump Administration has approved nearly $12 billion in major FMS sales to Israel. This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies."
"The Trump Administration will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats," he continued.
Then, after meeting with former hostages at the White House Wednesday, Trump issued one last warning to the terror organization.
"'Shalom Hamas' means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am… pic.twitter.com/88EjVAyWAe
— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) March 5, 2025
President Trump met with eight released hostages from Gaza, listening to their heartbreaking stories. They expressed gratitude for his unwavering efforts to bring them & others home.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2025
Hamas' actions have inflicted immense suffering, AND THEIR REIGN OF TERROR MUST BE STOPPED.🇺🇸🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/Sy0G3fwSqL
Israel has a new Chief of Staff, who is preparing the Israeli Defense Forces to go back into the Gaza Strip to finish the job. From the Jerusalem Post:
"We are preparing to return to fighting," Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said on his first day as the 24th IDF Chief of Staff on Thursday.
The comments were made during a meeting with the heads of local councils from the Gaza border communities.
"We must defeat Hamas," said Zamir. "We are also preparing to resume fighting. The hostages are our top priority."
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