This is the second arms package to Israel approved by the Trump administration this month [Getty]
The US has approved new weapons sales to Israel worth almost $3 billion in an emergency package, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Under the largest part of the deal, Israel will acquire thousands of 2,000-pound bombs for $2.04 billion.
More than 35,500 bomb bodies and 4,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads will be delivered starting in 2026.
The State Department notified Congress that the sales would take place on an emergency basis, allowing it to bypass congressional reviews.
US President Donald Trump last month lifted a ban on the sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel put in place by the Biden administration.
A separate $675.7 million deal will provide thousands of 1,000-pound bomb bodies and precision-guidance kits, with deliveries to begin in 2028.
Israel will also spend $295 million on Caterpillar bulldozers, which it uses to demolish Palestinian structures in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Deliveries will start in 2027.
The Pentagon said the sales will help Israel combat regional threats and strengthen its security, which it said was vital to US interests.
This is the second weapons package to Israel the Trump administration has green-lit this month after it approved a $7.4 billion deal two weeks ago.
US arms sales to Israel have skyrocketed since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
The first year of the war saw the US send almost $18 billion in military aid to Israel – the highest annual figure on record.
The latest deal comes amid heightened uncertainty about the fate of the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which expires on Saturday evening.
Israel is refusing to enter the second stage of the ceasefire as agreed last month and only wants to discuss extending the current phase – a position that Hamas has rejected.
Hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli captives have been released by both sides during the six-week truce, which paused Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza that killed more than 48,300 people.
The International Criminal Court in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel is also preparing to fight genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in a case brought by South Africa.
