The United States on Tuesday approved arms sales to its Israeli ally worth more than $20 billion, brushing aside pressure from human rights groups to halt the shipments.
The announcement comes as the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas enters its 11th year.e months and US President Joe Biden is pushing for a ceasefire.
The State Department said in a notification to the US Congress that the sale would “enhance Israel’s ability to confront current and future enemy threats.”
The sale includes 50 F-15 fighter jets worth $18.82 billion, nearly 33,000 tank munitions and 50,000 mortar shells.
These deliveries will take years: the F-15s, equipped with radars and secure communications equipment, will not begin to be delivered until 2029.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to help Israel develop and maintain a significant self-defense capability,” the State Department said in its memo regarding the sale of the F-15s, built by Boeing.
Regarding the tank ammunition, the State Department argued that it will allow Israel “to strengthen its internal defense and serve as a deterrent to regional threats.”
Human rights groups and some Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to reduce or halt arms sales to Israel, which is engaged in a bloody war in Gaza that has killed at least 39,929 people, according to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government’s health ministry.
Congress could theoretically block the arms sale, but such a move is unlikely to succeed.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and considers a terrorist organisation, along with the United States and the European Union, after the October 7 attack on its soil that killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.