The American government has “urgently” approved, without congressional approval, the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 tank shells used in the war against Hamas in Gaza, he said on Saturday.
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The State Department notified Congress on Friday, citing an “emergency” authorization, of the sale to its Israeli ally of 13,981 120mm shells used to equip the Merkava battle tanks involved in the offensive on Palestinian territory. as stated in press releases from the US State Department on Saturday Foreign Affairs and the Pentagon.
AFP
This military equipment is worth $106.5 million.
“The Secretary of State (Antony Blinken) noted and justified in detail to Congress that there is an urgency to immediately sell this equipment to the Government of Israel (…) without the parliamentary review required by the arms export control legislation be. ” suggested American diplomacy.
On Wednesday, Congress — divided with a Republican-majority House of Representatives and Democratic senators in the majority, but itself splintered — failed to make progress on a massive relief package of more than $106 billion that Democratic President Joe Biden has urged Biden had requested, including funds for Ukraine and Israel.
“The United States is committed to Israel's security and it is critical to U.S. national interests to assist Israel in developing and maintaining a strong self-defense capability,” the State Department continued.
Despite sometimes strained diplomatic relations, Washington is Israel's main supporter and has provided it with $3.8 billion in military aid annually since 2016 under Barack Obama's presidency.
The United States late Friday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.