Egypt Daily News – The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced in a statement on Friday that the State Department has approved a potential sale of bombs, detonation equipment, and other weapons to Israel, worth nearly three billion dollars.
The statement added that Congress was notified of the potential arms sales on an “emergency basis” Friday afternoon.
This process bypasses the long-standing practice of allowing the heads and members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to review the sale and request further information before an official notification is sent to Congress.
The arms sales include 35,529 general-purpose bombs, each weighing approximately 1,000 kilograms, and 4,000 bunker-buster bombs of the same weight, produced by General Dynamics.
The Pentagon confirmed that deliveries will begin in 2026, with a possibility that “part of these purchases will come from U.S. stockpiles,” potentially enabling immediate delivery of some weapons.
The second package, valued at 675 million dollars, consists of 5,000 bombs, each weighing 500 kilograms, along with necessary equipment to help convert “dumb” unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions.
This package was initially expected to be delivered in 2028, while a third notification includes bulldozers produced by Caterpillar, valued at 295 million dollars.
This marks the second time in one month that the Trump administration has declared an emergency to fast-track arms sales to Israel.
Earlier last week, the Trump administration overturned a directive issued under President Biden, which had required reporting on potential violations of international law related to U.S. weapons supplied to allies, including Israel.
