Trump expected to lift US suspension of one-ton bombs to Israel: Ambassador

US President Donald Trump is expected to lift the suspension of one-ton (2,000 pounds) bombs to Israel and revoke sanctions on West Bank settlers, the outgoing Israeli ambassador to Washington said in an interview published on Monday.

The Biden administration had paused the shipment of these bombs to Israel, citing concerns over the Israeli targeting of densely populated areas in Gaza. Before that, last year, former President Joe Biden resumed, after a short suspension, the shipping of 500-pound bombs to Israel.

“We believe that Trump is going to release, at the beginning of his term, the munitions that haven’t been released until now by the Biden administration,” Mike Herzog was quoted as telling Axios.

Herzog, who US-born Yechiel Leiter will soon replace, also revealed plans for Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House in the coming weeks but added that no schedule had been finalized yet.

On Monday, Netanyahu congratulated Trump and said that the “best days of our alliance are yet to come.”

The Gaza war, sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, has seen a decrease in attacks since a ceasefire deal went into effect over the weekend. Trump and his transition team were key factors in brokering the deal, which will see Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel released for hostages being held Hamas.

“The Trump team played a major role… They got some things from the Israeli side that allowed the deal to go through, and they gave us some things and will give more going forward,” Herzog said in the interview published Monday.