The United States has approved the sale of munitions worth over $150 million to Israel without the review of the US Congress, as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates.
The US State Department announced on Friday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved the sale of munitions worth $151.8 million to Israel, stating that the sale is an urgent requirement for US national security.
The approval allows the US to make the sale without the review of the US Congress, which is the usual procedure for the sale of munitions to foreign countries.
The US State Department stated that the sale of the munitions to Israel is to provide 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose bomb bodies, each weighing 1,000 pounds, along with the provision of the necessary supporting equipment and services. The main contractor for the deal is Repkon USA, a Texas-based defense company.
Typically, major arms deals with foreign governments are subject to a review period by Congress, which allows lawmakers to raise objections or even attempt to block the deal.
Read Also: New Footage Of Fatal ICE Shooting Of U.S. Citizen In Texas
However, the secretary of state may waive this requirement by invoking emergency powers if the administration determines that immediate action is necessary.
Rubio’s deal qualified as meeting that standard, said the State Department, as it was determined to be “in the national security interests of the United States.”
This announcement was made one week after the start of coordinated attacks by U.S. and Israeli military forces against targets in Iran, which began on February 28.
The attack was a major escalation of hostilities in the region, which prompted retaliatory attacks by Iran against Israeli territory and other locations in the region that house U.S. military bases.
The exchange of attacks has resulted in casualties for all parties involved. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations stated this week that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed since the strikes began. Thousands have been wounded, he said. Iran has also seen the deaths of several of its top leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Verification of the casualty figures has not been made independent.
US military officials have verified that six American service members were killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait, where American personnel are stationed.
At least 10 civilians have died since the strikes began within Israeli territory, Israeli officials said.
The arms transfer has faced opposition from members of Congress, particularly Democrats, who have expressed opposition to the administration’s bypassing of legislative approval.
Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the use of emergency authority raises questions about the administration’s readiness for the conflict with Iran.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that it was fully prepared for this war,” Meeks said in a statement. “Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration’s own creation.”
Congress has limited ability to stop the transfer of arms once emergency authority is invoked, though lawmakers can try to challenge the policy.
For decades, the U.S. has had a close military relationship with Israel, which is considered a major beneficiary of U.S. military aid.
The U.S. provides Israel with billions of dollars every year in military aid and has approved the sale of military equipment to Israel to resupply its arsenal.
Read Also: Man Convicted For Plotting Assassination Of U.S. Politicians
Both the Trump administration and the previous administration under President Joe Biden have relied on emergency procedures to hasten the sale of certain weapons to Israel during times of conflict.
The latest sale of arms to Israel comes at a time when the United States is reviewing its military support to the country, especially in light of the Israeli offensive in Gaza that started after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants on Israeli territory.
According to the Israeli authorities, 1,200 persons were killed in the attack, and over 250 persons were taken hostage and brought into Gaza.
The Israeli authorities have stated that their offensive in Gaza is intended to destroy Hamas and prevent such attacks in the future.
There have been concerns over the impact of the Israeli military actions in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have died, and the territory has been largely destroyed.
The conflict in Gaza has resulted in the displacement of the entire Gaza population and a severe shortage of food and other essential commodities.
The possibility has been floated by scholars and the United Nations inquiry that the operations may constitute genocide, which has been denied by the Israeli government.
The current conflict between Iran brings another factor into the volatile mix, and the conflict has now spread from Gaza and Lebanon to include direct conflict between Israel and Iran, and attacks on U.S. military personnel stationed in the Middle East.