an Israeli airline The company shipped thousands of pounds worth of controversial “bunker busting” bomb parts through New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport during the height of the war between Israel and the United States against Iran, according to a new investigation by a left-wing research group.
Challenge Airlines, an Israel-based cargo carrier, conducted three flights this spring carrying BLU-109 bomb casings, a 2,000-pound munition that has been linked to numerous mass-casualty attacks on civilian communities in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Iran in recent years. Based on open source material obtained by Movement Research Unit and reviewed by The Intercept.
The airline also produced more than 100 batches of guidance kits known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), which convert so-called “dumb bombs” into GPS-guided munitions capable of striking specific targets, according to data shared with The Intercept. Many of the guidance kits were marked for use on the MK-84, another 2,000-pound bomb used by Israel in its campaign to level Gaza, and JDAM fragments were repeatedly found at the sites of air strikes.
Former State Department official Josh Paul said the 2,000-pound bombs posed a serious risk of civilian casualties. He resigned when the Gaza war broke out in protest of the Biden administration’s arms sales to Israel.
“If you look at the historical use of 2,000-pound bombs in the United States, in the entire counter-ISIS campaign, only two were dropped near the city of Mosul, precisely because there was no way to use 2,000-pound bombs discriminatingly in an urban environment,” Paul said, referring to the U.S. air war in the final years of the Obama administration to end ISIS control of the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Israel did not share the U.S. reservations. The country has used these weapons extensively against targets in Gaza and Lebanon, including a deadly attack on the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza that killed dozens of civilians, according to a New York Times analysis.
“If you look at the photos from Gaza right now, I would say the Israeli use of these weapons is functionally no different than indiscriminate bombing,” Paul said.
“It is impossible to use a 2,000-pound bomb discriminatingly in an urban environment.”
Challenger Airlines and the Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.
“We work closely with all of our airport partners to ensure the safety of the public, neighboring communities and airport workers,” said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK Airport. “The federal government and commercial airlines have primary responsibility for what is allowed to be transported on aircraft. Under federal law, we are prohibited from interfering with these activities.”
While the JDAM and BLU-109 bomb bodies shipped do not include active ammunition, previous weapons shipments through JFK have contained explosives, including 14 tons of nitrocellulose shipped to Israel in May 2025.
The Intercept verified data showing corpses from all three bunker bomb shipments, as well as some data showing shipments of JDAM kits. Previous work by the Movement Research Unit, an investigative agency, has uncovered shipments of drone technology to Israel and United Airlines transporting fighter jet parts on civilian airliners. The agency shared the data but asked that some details of its methods be withheld to prevent crackdowns on its acquisition.
In response to the flow of weapons and supplies through JFK Airport, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has been organizing a campaign to stop the flow of weapons to Israel through the airport.
“This is yet another example of the growing number of reports showing how civilian infrastructure has been used to commit genocide in Gaza,” said a DSA member named Henry, who asked that his last name not be used to prevent retaliation from his employer. “Civil air travel should prioritize passengers, travelers and the international community over weapons, and no worker should be forced to serve in militarized supply chains.”
tons of pressure
According to data shared with The Intercept, Challenger Airlines transported bunker bomb bodies on flights from JFK to Tel Aviv on March 12, April 30, and May 6.
They ship guidance kits much more frequently, with 109 shipments departing JFK for Tel Aviv between December 22, 2024, and June 7, 2026. Cargo documents show that most of the shipment was JDAM kits designed for 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs, but also included at least one batch of kits for bunker-busting bombs.
The airline shipped a total of 175,884 pounds of BLU-109 casings and more than 5 million pounds of JDAM kits between Dec. 22, 2024, and June 7, 2026, according to data obtained by the Movement Research Unit.
According to federal data, JFK is the main export hub for such munitions flown to Israel: more than half of all airborne weapons that qualify for government bomb and missile export categories to Israel are shipped abroad from JFK.
The origin of the bunker buster and JDAM shipments is unclear, but sales of military hardware to Israel typically result from either deals between the Israeli and U.S. governments or direct commercial purchases under special export licenses the Israeli military obtains from private companies.
A study by analyst William Hartung shows that the United States provided $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel in the first two years of Israel’s Gaza war. These include multiple deliveries of 2,000-pound bombs such as the BLU-109 and MK-84, as well as JDAM kits that equip the weapons with GPS guidance.
The Biden administration halted shipments of MK-84 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May 2024, citing possible harm to civilians, but President Donald Trump resumed shipments of the heavy munitions within weeks of regaining the White House.
News of the shipments comes just over a month after The Associated Press revealed that the United States was brewing plans to sell $2.8 billion worth of arms to Israel, including thousands of 2,000-pound bombs.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., said continued sales of such heavy weapons to Israel underscore the need for a federal solution. She sponsored legislation last year called the Stop the Bomb Act, which would ban U.S. sales of BLU-109, JDAM and other munitions critical to Israel’s war effort.
“It’s good for people to put pressure on the ground, but ultimately it’s Congress’s responsibility to make it happen.”
“This is the only bill that bans these types of arms transfers and the only bill that establishes a comprehensive oversight process,” Ramirez told The Intercept. “There’s a big push to stop these transfers, especially in New York and around JFK, and it’s good that people are putting pressure on the ground, but ultimately it’s Congress’s responsibility to make that happen.”
The bill was first proposed in May 2025 and has more than 80 co-sponsors, but it remains in legislative limbo so far. With the House soon to be controlled by Democrats, Ramirez said she plans to bring the bill up for consideration next session.