Biden administration plans $8 billion weapons sale to Israel
WASHINGTON — The State Department has notified Congress of a planned $8 billion arms sale to Israel, US officials say, as the US ally continues its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Some of the weapons in the package could be shipped through current U.S. stockpiles, but the majority would take a year or more to deliver, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the notification to Congress had not been formally notified. has been sent. .
The sale includes medium-range air-to-air missiles to help Israel defend against air threats, 155mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targets, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 500-pound bombs and more.
The weapons package would contribute to a record of at least $17.9 billion in military aid that the US has supplied to Israel since the Hamas attacks launched the war on October 7, 2023.
The Biden administration has faced criticism over rising deaths among Palestinian civilians. There have been demonstrations on college campuses and failed attempts in Congress by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and some Democrats to block the sale of assault weapons to Israel.
The United States halted a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May over concerns about civilian casualties if the bombs were used in an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Biden administration has demanded Israel expand humanitarian aid to the enclave. But in November, citing limited progress, it was done refused to limit arms transfers as it threatened to do if the situation did not improve.
In recent days, so has Israel carrying out air strikes on Gaza which have cost the lives of dozens of people, in addition to the tens of thousands of deaths since the war began over a year ago.
The Israeli army said on Friday it had hit dozens of Hamas assembly points and command centers across Gaza. The Israeli army says it is only targeting militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in densely populated residential areas.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced approximately 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrivedand hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea.
The informal notice to Congress is not the final notice before a sale. Now leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can review the package.
The news of the gun sale was first reported by Axios.