Bomb used by Israelis in Beirut likely came from the US
The bomb used by Israel in Beirut on Friday very likely came from the U.S. as part of a larger military assistance program that’s been in place for decades.
The IDF described the bomb as a "bunker buster," a reference to the BLU-109 which was designed and manufactured to penetrate hardened underground bunkers.
The U.S. has used these massive 2,000-pound bombs before, typically in remote areas of countries like Afghanistan as a way to destroy enemy tunnels and underground command centers.
Use of the bunker-buster bombs in urban areas dramatically increases the risk of civilian casualties because it can turn entire neighborhoods into craters.
In May, President Joe Biden withheld a single shipment of 1,800 of these weapons to Israel out of concern Israel would use the bombs in Rafah, a highly populated area in Gaza where civilians were sheltering.
Officials say those bombs remain on hold, although Israel would likely have enough in stock for that single shipment not to make a significant tactical difference in its ongoing operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
