US approves $3 billion in emergency arms sales to Israel
Kyiv • UNN
The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of about $3 billion worth of bombs and military equipment to Israel, bypassing the standard congressional review process. The delivery includes thousands of bombs, detonation kits and bulldozers.
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of about $3 billion worth of bombs, detonation kits and other weapons to Israel, the Pentagon said on Friday, UNN reports citing Reuters.
Details
The alleged arms sales were reported to Congress on Friday afternoon on an emergency basis.
This process circumvents the long-standing practice of allowing the chairmen and senior members of the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees to review the sale and request additional information before officially notifying Congress, the newspaper points out.
The sale includes 35,529 general-purpose bomb casings for 2,000-pound bombs and 4,000 2,000-pound bunker busting bombs produced by General Dynamics. Although the Pentagon said that deliveries would begin in 2026, it also said that "there is a possibility that some of these purchases will come from U.S. stockpiles," which could mean immediate delivery of some of the weapons.
The second package, worth $675 million, consisted of 5,000 1,000-pound bombs and related dumb bomb control kits. This package was supposed to be delivered in 2028.
The third announcement involves Caterpillar's D9 bulldozers worth $295 million.
Friday's announcements mark the second time this month that the Trump administration has used emergency powers to quickly approve arms sales to Israel. The Biden administration also used emergency powers to approve arms sales to Israel without congressional review.
On Monday, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era executive order that required it to report possible violations of international law related to US arms shipments to allies, including Israel. This reportedly canceled most of the US humanitarian aid abroad.
Addendum
Last month's ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas ended 15 months of fighting and paved the way for negotiations to end the war, and led to the release of 44 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
However, Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the ceasefire, calling into question the second phase of the agreement, which was supposed to include the release of new hostages and prisoners, as well as steps toward a final end to the war.
