The Biden administration is pushing ahead with a $680 million arms sales package to Israel, a US official familiar with the plan said on Wednesday, even as a US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah has come into effect.
The package, which was first reported by the Financial Times, includes thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAM) and hundreds of small-diameter bombs, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The news comes less than a day after the ceasefire agreement ended the most direct confrontation in years between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, but Israel is still fighting its other arch-foe, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
However, the package has been in the works for several months. The official said it was first previewed to the congressional committees in September and then submitted for review in October.
The package follows a $20 billion sale in August of fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel.
Over 10,000 bombs and missiles
Reuters reported in June that Washington, Israel's biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
The conversations about the latest arms package had been going on even as a group of progressive US senators including Bernie Sanders introduced resolutions to block the sale of some US weapons to Israel over concerns about the human rights catastrophe faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
The legislation was shot down in the Senate.
Biden, whose term ends in January, has strongly backed Israel since Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, 101 of which are still held hostage in the Gaza Strip.