US approves $7.4 billion sale of bombs, Hellfire missiles to Israel
The US State Department has announced the approval of the sale of more than $7.4 billion in weapons to Israel, which has used lethal American weapons in its genocidal war on Gaza.
The State Department informed the Congress on Friday that it has approved the sale of $6.75 billion in bombs, guidance kits and fuses, in addition to $660 million in Hellfire missiles to the occupying regime.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel ...,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.
The arms sale is President Donald Trump’s latest effort to bolster Israel’s weapons stocks. Soon after he took office, he lifted the hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
According to the State Department, two separate sales were sent to Congress on Friday. One is for $6.75 billion in an array of munitions, guidance kits and other related equipment.
It includes 166 small-diameter bombs, 2,800 500-pound bombs, and thousands of guidance kits, fuses and other bomb components and support equipment. Those deliveries would begin this year.
The other arms package is for 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $660 million.
The decision comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the US to meet Trump.
Under former President Joe Biden, the US provided Israel with $17.9 billion in military aid from October 2023, where the occupying regime launched its war on Gaza, to October 2024 alone. The figure was around six times the volume of Washington’s routine annual military aid to the regime.
In January, several former US officials admitted that Israel couldn’t have committed war crimes in Gaza without the US military support.
Despite increasing international criticism over the regime’s heinous crimes in Gaza, the US continues to provide military support to Israel and ignores accusations that such transfers make it complicit in the enclave’s destruction.
During the 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza, more than 47,000 were killed in the besieged territory, and 110,000 injured, most of whom were children and women. Gaza’s 2.3 million populations have been displaced and much of the besieged territory is in ruins.
On January 15, the Israeli regime, failing to achieve any of its war objectives including the “elimination” of Hamas or the release of captives, was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian resistance movements.
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