WASHINGTON—Amid a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, the U.S. State Department has approved a multi-billion-dollar sale of arms and related assistance to Israel.
A spokesperson for the Department of State told The Epoch Times that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the House and Senate committees on foreign relations were notified of the proposed foreign military sales on Feb. 7.
The announcement follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meetings with President Donald Trump, during which Trump suggested that the United States should take over the Gaza Strip to rebuild the war-torn region and that neighboring countries should absorb the Palestinian refugees. Palestinians have started to return to northern Gaza as the peace between Israel and terrorist group Hamas holds.
They include $660 million for 3,000 AGM-114 Hellfire Missiles, along with associated equipment and support, projected to be delivered starting in 2028. The principal contractor for the Hellfires, previously used in precision drone strikes against Hamas leadership and fighters, is Lockheed Martin.
The State Department’s approved military sales also include “munitions, guidance kits, fuzes, and munitions support and related equipment for an estimated cost of $6.75 billion,” with deliveries expected this year.
The $6.75 billion sale will rely on “U.S. inventory, where available,” according to the statement. Contractors will include the Boeing Company, TK Tactical Systems Company LLC, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, and L3 Harris Fuzing and Ordnance Systems.
That total includes 2,166 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, which Israel has used in strikes on sites in the Gaza Strip. It also includes 13,000 joint direct attack munition guidance kits for the Mark 84 bomb, a common unguided bomb repeatedly transferred to Israel from the United States in past years, as well as 3,475 similar kits for the BLU-109 bomb, a bunker buster also previously sent to Israel from the United States.
The Mark 84 and BLU-109 are 2,000-pound bombs. The Trump administration ended the Biden administration’s pause on 2,000-pound bomb sales in late January.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the Pentagon stated, adding that the sales “will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
The current cease-fire was reached in mid-January. It put a temporary halt to the latest round of high-intensity conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by the terrorist group. Parties to the negotiations included both the Biden administration and then-President-elect Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, real estate investor Steve Witkoff.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Congress’s foreign affairs committees for additional details on the sales.
The State Department’s announcement states that the proposal “improves Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats.”
Israel perceives threats to its security beyond Hamas’s activities in the Gaza Strip, including potentially from Syria and Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian strikes on Israel in October 2024 led to an Israeli counter-strike on the Islamic Republic. Iran has threatened to retaliate.
Earlier phases of the Israel-Hamas war were also marked by conflicts between Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon and Israeli forces. Some Israeli forces remain in portions of southern Lebanon, though they were required to leave by late January under an initial deadline that has been extended to late February.
