The State Department informed Congress of its plans for a $7 billion arms deal with Israel.
The announcement comes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, D.C. However, a source told the Times of Israel in January that the deal was planned by the Biden administration, and lawmakers had been informally notified.
The deal is split into two parts, according to the State Department. The first part of the deal includes $6.75 billion in munitions, guidance kits, fuzes, and other bomb components and support equipment. Shipments are set to begin later this year.
The second arms package, worth about $660 million, includes 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment. Shipments are expected to begin in 2028.
Trump had previously unfrozen a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel that Biden had paused over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza. The president said that he cleared the shipment “because they bought them.”
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The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has held so far, but concerns remain. Trump's proposal this week that the United States should take ownership of the Gaza Strip provoked panic among the Arab states, with leaders from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Arab League releasing a joint statement saying they would never accept forced “evictions.”
Partisans on both sides of the aisle reacted negatively to Trump's proposal as well, with those on the left expressing humanitarian concerns for the native Palestinians and those on the right gawking at the possibility of sending more American troops to a hostile area of the Middle East.