Washington - Saba:
The US Department of Defense on Friday said the State Department had approved a potential sale of bombs, demolition equipment and other weapons to the Zionist enemy, worth about three billion dollars.
Congress was notified of the potential arms sales Friday afternoon on an emergency basis, the Pentagon said in a statement, according to Quds Press Agency.
It explained that this process goes beyond a long-standing practice, which is to give the heads and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives and the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate the opportunity to review the deal and request more information before officially notifying Congress.
The arms sales include 35,529 general purpose bombs weighing about a thousand kilograms and four thousand bunker-busting bombs of the same weight produced by General Dynamics.
While the Pentagon said deliveries would begin in 2026, it added that “there is a possibility that some of these purchases will come from US stockpiles,” which could mean immediate delivery of some of the weapons.
The second package is worth $675 million and consists of 5,000 bombs, each weighing about 500 kilograms, along with the necessary equipment suitable to help guide the “dumb” bombs. This package was expected to be delivered in 2028.
A third notification contains bulldozers made by Caterpillar worth $295 million.
This is the second time in a month that the Trump administration has declared an emergency to quickly approve the sale of weapons to an enemy.
The administration of former President Joe Biden previously used emergency powers to approve arms sales to Israel without congressional review.
The Trump administration on Monday rescinded a Biden-era order requiring it to report potential violations of international law related to weapons the United States provides to allies, including Israel.
Since October 7, 2023, the Zionist enemy has launched a war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the martyrdom of 48,365 citizens, most of whom are children and women, and the injury of 111,780 others, in an incomplete toll, as a number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.
It is noteworthy that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into effect on January 19, and since its entry into force, a number of Palestinian citizens have been martyred and injured in various parts of the Strip.
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