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The US State Department has formally told Congress that it plans to sell more than $7 billion in weapons to Israel
The US Department of Defense announced on Friday that the State Department has approved military sales to Israel totaling more than $7 billion, and would be providing thousands of bombs and missiles. It comes amid a fragile ceasefire agreement between West Jerusalem and Hamas.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. During a joint press briefing, Trump floated the idea of Washington owning the enclave. He also proposed relocating the Palestinians outside of Gaza, and that neighboring states would be pay.
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), two separate sale requests were sent to Congress on Friday. One is for $6.75 billion worth of of munitions, guidance kits, and other related equipment. The deliveries would begin this year.
The second arms package includes 3,000 Hellfire missiles and associated equipment, at an estimated cost of $660 million. Deliveries of these missiles are expected to begin in 2028, and their use will require additional training from the US military.
The sale is another step in Trump’s effort to bolster Israel’s weapons stocks. Shortly after taking office in late January, he rescinded a hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. Former President Joe Biden’s administration had previously halted this shipment due to concerns about civilian casualties, especially during an attack on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
However, Biden also informally notified Congress about a $8 billion arms deal last month, according to several media reports. Axios has claimed that the deal could be partly supplied from current US stocks, but most would take a year or more to deliver.
The DSCA announcement comes despite requests from Democratic lawmakers to pause the sale, pending further information. Representative Gregory Meeks, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the move, stating it breaks with the long-standing precedent of congressional review for major weapons sales. “In the United States we do not have kings – we are a democracy rooted in the Constitution, governed by laws,” Meeks said.
However, this is not the first time the Trump administration has bypassed the traditional weapons review process. In 2019, he declared a national emergency to expedite the sale of over $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, circumventing congressional objections related to human rights concerns.
