Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA.) and Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee have been notified of the latest sale to Israel under the Trump administration.
WASHINGTON – Amidating a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the US State Department has approved billions of dollars in arms sales and related assistance to Israel.
A State Department spokesperson told the Epoch Times that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House and Senate Committees on Foreign Relations have been notified of the proposed foreign military sales on February 7th. .
The announcement follows a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, during which Trump should take over the Gaza Strip to rebuild the war-torn region, with neighboring countries still being Palestinian refugees. He suggested that it should be absorbed. Palestinians began to return to northern Gaza as they were held by Israel and terrorist group Hamas.
It includes $660 million for 3,000 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and associated equipment and support, which are projected to be delivered from 2028. Previously used in Hamas’ leadership and precision drone strikes against fighter jets, Lockheed Martin is the main contractor for Hellfire.
The State Department’s approved military sales also include “annual, guidance kits, foods and ammunition support and related equipment at an estimated $6.75 billion cost,” deliveries are expected this year.
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The $6.75 billion sale relies on “US stock, if available,” according to the statement. Contractors include Boeing Company, TK Tactical Systems Company LLC, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, and L3 Harris Fuzing and Ordnance Systems.
This total includes the 2,166 GBU-39/B small-passage bomb that Israel uses for strikes on its Gaza Strip sites. It also includes 13,000 joint direct attack ammunition guidance kits for Mark 84 bombs, a common unguided bomb that has been repeatedly transferred from the US to Israel over the past few years, and 3,475 similar kits for BLU-109 bombs. It’s there. It was sent from the US to Israel.
The Mark 84 and Blu-109 are 2,000 pound bombs. The Trump administration ended the Biden administration’s suspension in late January with a £2,000 bomb sale.
“The US is committed to Israel’s safety and it is important for the US national interest to help Israel develop and maintain strong and prepared self-defense capabilities,” the Pentagon said, and sales “will not change.” “We’ll do it.” The basic military balance of this region. ”
The current ceasefire reached mid-January. The latest high-intensity conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered by October 7, 2023, temporarily halted attacks by terrorist groups. Parties to the negotiations included both the Biden administration and, since then, real estate investor Steve Witkoff, whose special envoy to the Middle East.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee for details on sales.
The State Department’s announcement states that the proposal “improves Israel’s ability to meet current and future threats, strengthens the defense of its homeland, and serves as a deterrent against local threats.”
Israel recognizes its threats to its security beyond its potential Hamas activities from Syria and Iran.
Meanwhile, the attack on Iran by Israel in October 2024 sparked an Israeli rebellion in the Islamic Republic. Iran threatened to retaliate.
The early stages of the Israeli-Hamas War were also characterized by the conflict between the Lebanese and Israeli Hezbollah fighters. Part of Israeli forces remain in parts of southern Lebanon, but had to leave by late January under the first deadline extended to late February.
