The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8-billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel. AFP
The State Department said it green-lighted a $3.8-billion sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Israel, and combat land vehicles, bypassing a congressional review process, amid a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli strikes and fire have killed more than 500 Palestinians and wounded nearly 1,400 since the truce took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Since the Israeli war began in 2023, Israel has killed at least 71,667 Palestinians in the small coastal territory, and injured more than 170,000, most of them women and children.
The packages of four weapons systems had been under review for months by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, The New York Times reported.
The State Department is supposed to wait for approval from the top two members on each of those committees before announcing the aid. But in this case, the department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio circumvented that norm.
The move was the third time the Trump administration has tried to expedite arms shipments to Israel by going around the review process for weapons sales.
"The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defence capability," the State Department said in a statement.
"This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," it said.
Each of the four items is called a case. The largest of the cases is Apache attack helicopters, valued at $3.8 billion, the US daily added.
A case of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, or JLTV, a newer version of Humvees, is valued at $1.98 billion.
The other cases are AW119 Koala light helicopters and power packs for armored personnel carriers.
The United States provides more than $3.8 billions of weapon aid per year to Israel, rather than sales.
Since the start of the Israel war in on Gaza, the US government has given Israel billions of dollars in additional arms aid each year that goes well beyond the standard congressional appropriation.
Critics inside the US of Israel’s brutal war have called for a halt to arms shipments to Israel, accusing the Biden and Trump administrations of taking part in the genocide
The decision sparked backlash over what a top House Democrat called an improper vetting process.
Tensions are high elsewhere in the region as the United States deploys a major military contingent in waters near Iran.
Israel last year carried out a major war against Iran, which was joined later by the US.
The State Department also approved a $9-billion sale to Saudi Arabia for 730 Patriot missiles, which are only used to defend against incoming attacks.
Saudi Arabia, while no friend of Iran, has voiced caution about an attack on Iran as Gulf monarchies fear instability that could jeopardise their reputation as business havens.
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