U.S. plans to send $20 billion in weapons to Israel over several years
The United States plans to send roughly $20 billion worth of weapons to Israel over the next several years, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, amid intraparty tension over rising deaths in the Gaza Strip.
The deal includes F-15 fighter jets, 120mm tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, AMRAAM antiaircraft missiles and high-explosive mortars.
The tactical vehicles and about 50,000 mortar cartridges are expected to be delivered to Israel starting in 2026. The following year, more than 32,000 120mm tank-ammunition cartridges are estimated to arrive in Israel.
Roughly 50 F-15 fighter jets, along with supplies to modify Israel’s own fighter jets, are expected to start arriving in 2029 – supplies that will cost about $18.82 billion. It was not immediately clear when the AMRAAM antiaircraft missiles would arrive, but the State Department said in a news release that they would be “sourced from new production.”
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the State Department said in a statement. “This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked the administration on X for approving the weapons transfers.
On Monday, the U.S. Navy deployed more vessels to the eastern Mediterranean Sea amid concerns in the region about a potential Iranian attack on Israel. Israel is facing international pressure to agree to a cease-fire deal that would end its war against Hamas in Gaza and free Israeli hostages. Israel is sending a delegation to Doha, Qatar, on Thursday to discuss the U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal that Biden made public in May, the Washington Post reported.
The Biden administration has sent weapons to Israel throughout the war. Last month, the United States resumed a shipment of 500-pound bombs that the Biden administration had suspended in May, but a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs is on hold.
The Biden administration’s position on the Gaza war has created tensions within the Democratic Party between lawmakers who support Israel in its war and others who condemn Israel’s military tactics.
At least 39,929 people have been killed and 92,240 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and says 330 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza. Hamas took more than 250 hostages, Israeli authorities said.
Tensions are especially high in the Middle East after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month. Iran vowed to retaliate and blamed Israel, which told U.S. officials that it was responsible, the Post reported.