WASHINGTON – The State Department officially states that it plans to sell more than $7 billion in weapons to Israel, including thousands of bombs and missiles, just two days after President Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House He told Congress.
Large arms sales will come as a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Trump continues to promote his widely criticized proposal to move all Palestinians out of Gaza and redevelop them as international travel destinations.
The sale is another step in Trump's efforts to strengthen Israeli weapons stock. In late January, shortly after he took office, he lifted the hold by sending a 2,000-pound bomb to Israel. The Biden administration had suspended bomb shipments in response to concerns about civilian casualties, particularly during the assault on Rafa in South Gaza city.
Trump told reporters that he released them to Israel “because they bought them.”
Two separate sales were sent to Congress on Friday, according to the State Department. One is $6.75 billion in an array of ammunition, guidance kits and other related equipment. This includes 166 small-diameter bombs, 2,800 500-pound bombs, thousands of guidance kits, fuses and other bomb components and support equipment. These delivery starts this year.
Another arm package is for 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment, with an estimated cost of $660 million. Delivery of missiles is expected to begin in 2028, and its use requires additional training by the US military.
Biden administration officials have informed Congress unofficially about the sale last month. Authorities at the time said some of the weapons in the package could be sent from current US stocks, but the majority would take a year or several years to deliver.
A top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee raised concerns about the January sale.
“We continue to engage with the administration on many questions and concerns,” a spokesman for Rep. Gregory Meeks (DN.Y.) told the Associated Press earlier this week. It is unclear whether those issues have been resolved by the time the Trump administration provided for formal notice on Friday.
It is standard for the State Department to first notify the Senate of the House Foreign Relations Committee senators if the price exceeds a certain amount before providing formal notice, the standard is that it will notify the top four Senate members of the Senate if the price exceeds a certain amount before providing formal notice. It's a practice. If any of the other three lawmakers on the relevant committee opposed the sale, traditionally the State Department refrained from giving formal notice until the issues raised by members have been resolved.
The announcement comes at a particularly sensitive time, but highlights Trump's solid support for Israel. He and Netanyahu held talks at the White House on Tuesday. There, two leaders discussed the fragile ceasefire and hostage trade in the Israeli-Hamas conflict and shared concerns about Iran.
Allies have expressed opposition to Trump's plan to resettle Gaza, expressing concerns that could put a ceasefire contract at risk.
But Trump claimed Friday that it was a simple “real estate transaction” and that the US was “doing nothing.” He suggests that resettlement of Gaza residents may be permanent.
Hamas has identified three Israeli hostages that are scheduled to be released as part of the ceasefire agreement. This is a sign that deals were moving forward despite the continued calls for the US and Israel to relocate Gaza's postwar population.
Three men captured in Hamas on October 7, 2023 are scheduled to be released on Saturday in the attack on southern Israeli Arabia hostages with Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. is.
Israeli forces have withdrawn from most of Gaza, as specified in the ceasefire agreement, but remain in the border area.
Associated Press writer Fernsh Amiri contributed to this report.
