The outgoing administration of the US president is pushing a $680 million arms sales package to Israel, a US official with knowledge of the plan said today, Wednesday, November 27. He made the statements after the ceasefire in Lebanon came into force between him and the .
The package, first reported by the Financial Times, includes thousands of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) guidance systems. At the same time, it also includes hundreds of small-diameter bombs, according to the official, who asked not to be named.
The information came to light a few hours after . However, Israel continues the war on the Gaza front against the Palestinian Hamas.
The arms sale package had been ready for months. It was first tabled in September before congressional committees. Then, it was submitted for review in October, the official underlined. In fact, it follows the sale, in August, of fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel, with a total value of 20 billion dollars.
Reuters reported in June that Washington, Israel’s biggest ally and arms supplier, had sent more than 10,000 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles there. These commissions have reached .
The reactions
Discussions on the latest arms package were still ongoing. A group of progressive US senators, including Bernie Sanders, have filed bills to block the sale of certain US weapons to Israel, due to the humanitarian disaster the Palestinians are experiencing. The bill was voted down in the Senate.
Joe Biden, whose term ends in January, has strongly supported Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli accounts.
Most of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced. The Palestinian enclave is at risk of famine, more than a year after the outbreak of war there.
Health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
