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Joe Biden's administration has temporarily approved $8 billion worth of new weapons for Israel in a last-minute show of support for the US president's close ally after more than a year of war in Gaza.
The State Department disclosed the sale to Congress late Friday in what is known as an informal notification, according to two people familiar with the matter.
This notification comes before the public announcement of the deal, which will require approval from the Senate and House Foreign Relations Committees before it can be implemented.
Axios first reported the planned deal, which includes $6.75 billion worth of precision guided missiles and small bombs, $300 million worth of 155mm artillery shells, $600 million worth of Hellfire missiles, and $300 million worth of AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, according to one People. Familiar with this issue.
A second person said some of the weapons would come directly from US stockpiles but many would take a year or more to be delivered.
The Israeli attack on Gaza led to deaths More than 45,000 Residents of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health authorities. Israel launched the attack in response to a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Biden administration officials have pledged to continue efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza until the end of their term on January 20, but talks have been stalled for months.
The administration has repeatedly raised concerns with Israel about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but has largely not followed through on its threats to withhold weapons.
In November, the State Department withdrew its threat to halt military aid even after aid deliveries to Gaza dropped to record levels, saying it was satisfied that Israel had taken steps to improve the humanitarian situation.
US officials say aid deliveries have improved since then, but are still insufficient. Aid groups have repeatedly warned that the Israeli attack has fueled a humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and have called for much larger amounts of aid to be delivered.
Biden said he supports Israel's right to defend itself and pledged to provide it with weapons as part of efforts to deter Iran and its proxies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often accused the United States of delaying the delivery of weapons and ammunition, something the Biden administration denies.
In November, Netanyahu said he agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, in part to help Israeli forces replenish their stocks.
That month, the Biden administration informally informed Congress that it planned to grant grants to Israel 680 million dollars In precision weapons.
This announcement came after some Democrats in Congress tried, and failed, to block a $20 billion arms sale to Israel last summer.
Congress approved an additional $26 billion in wartime aid for Israel in April. This comes in addition to the $3.8 billion in security aid that the United States provides to Israel annually.
