WASHINGTON (AP)— President Joe Biden's administration has approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million as it intensifies its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the State Department said Saturday.
The department said it had notified Congress of the sale late Friday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the munitions in the U.S. national security interest.
The emergency determination means that the purchase will bypass the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales. Such determinations are rare, but not unprecedented, when administrations see an urgent need for weapons to be delivered without waiting for congressional approval.
“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 department said in a statement. “Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”
The sale is worth $106.5 million and includes 13,981 120 mm High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer tank cartridges as well as U.S. support, engineering and logistics.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Israel’s ground offensive in southern Gaza Strip intensified on Saturday with further airstrikes and artillery fire, a day after the United States blocked a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire.
Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.
Amid concerns about a wider conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents have reported severe food shortages.
Despite growing international pressure, President Joe Biden’s administration remains opposed to an open-ended cease-fire, arguing it would enable Hamas to continue posing a threat to Israel. The administration approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million, the State Department said.