US to sell $6.4 billion worth of weapons to Israel
US President Donald Trump’s administration will sell Israel another $6.4 billion worth of weapons. The new shipment will include regular weapons and ammunition, as well as attack helicopters and tanks.
Reuters reported this information, citing multiple officials from the Trump administration and the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense.
The officials said that the proposed new shipment includes 30 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and 3,250 infantry assault vehicles or tanks. The helicopters and tanks are worth $3.8 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively. The remaining $700 million is for helicopter and tank parts and ammunition.
The Israeli army, under the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently launched an operation to capture the entire Gaza Strip. It is believed that the proposed new shipment of weapons will be used in this operation.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israeli territory, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages in Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces have launched a military operation in the valley. More than 65,000 people have been killed in the nearly two-year-long Israeli campaign.
In the past two years, a ceasefire in Gaza has been proposed six times to the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body. Each time, the United States has rejected the proposal with objections or vetoes.
France and Saudi Arabia have taken the initiative to organize an international conference in New York on September 22 to demand the recognition of Palestine as an independent state. In the meantime, the Trump administration has finalized the issue of arms sales to Israel.
