The tips of 155mm artillery shells are pictured near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in northern Israel. AFP
The State Department has signed off on the sale of $6.75 billion in bombs, guidance kits and fuzes, in addition to $660 million in Hellfire missiles, according to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The massive arms sale came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington for meetings with Trump, administration officials and members of Congress.
According to AP, Biden administration officials informally notified Congress about the sale last month.
Meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas holds in Gaza, even as Trump continues to tout his widely criticized proposal to move all Palestinians out of the territory and redevelop it as an international travel destination.
The sale is another step in Trump’s effort to bolster Israel’s weapons stock. In late January, soon after he took office, he lifted the hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
The Biden administration had paused a shipment of the bombs over concerns about civilian casualties, particularly during an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
But Trump told reporters he had released them to Israel “because they bought them,” AP reported.
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