According to a Pentagon statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented US lawmakers with a detailed justification for the emergency situation, demanding the immediate sale of projectiles and related equipment to the Israeli government “in the interest of national security.” Thus, the US State Department used an emergency regulation of the Arms Export Control Act to eliminate the requirement to consider this issue in Congress.
The statement noted that Israel will use the enhanced capabilities as a means to deter regional threats and strengthen the country’s defense.
The sale price is estimated at $106.5 million.
The missiles are part of a broader deal that the Biden administration is asking Congress to approve, Reuters reported. The largest package is worth more than $500 million and includes 45,000 rounds for Israeli Merkava tanks.
Israel stepped up its attacks on Gaza on Saturday and expanded evacuation orders in the enclave’s south, a day after the U.N. Security Council failed to pass a proposed resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
By now, the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have already been forced to flee their homes, and many of them have done so multiple times. Fighting rages across the area, and residents and UN agencies say there are now virtually no safe places there. Israel denies it.
The World Health Organization’s executive board will meet on Sunday to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
More than a dozen WHO member states have already expressed “serious concern” about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the enclave. Gazans “are forced to move like pinballs, bouncing between smaller and smaller areas in the south, without access to everything they need to survive,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
“The people of Gaza are staring into the abyss,” Guterres said. “The international community must do everything possible to end their suffering.”
The expansion of Israel’s military operations comes after Washington vetoed a proposed UN Security Council resolution on Friday.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called the stalemate “a complete disappointment.”
“Our friends have once again expressed the opinion that the United States is now alone on this issue, especially in the vote that took place today at the United Nations,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT on Friday after he and his colleagues from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington.
