US accelerates delivery of weapons to Israel
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has officially signed a declaration aimed at speeding up the transfer of around $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
**Former President Biden Had Blocked Several Bomb Shipments Over the Gaza War**
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed a declaration to accelerate the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel, referring to President Donald Trump as the Jewish state's significant ally, according to a statement issued on Saturday.
This action is part of the White House's larger initiative to strengthen Israel’s military capabilities in the face of ongoing regional tensions. Since Trump assumed office on January 20, his administration has reportedly approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to West Jerusalem.
“This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum, which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies,” Rubio said on Saturday.
On Friday, the Pentagon revealed that the State Department had approved the potential sale of nearly $3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits, and other weaponry to Israel. This emergency approval circumvented the standard congressional review process, marking the second instance in recent weeks of expedited arms sales to Israel during a fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants. The conflict has already claimed over 1,700 Israeli and 62,000 Palestinian lives.
The U.S. stands as Israel’s largest arms supplier, accounting for more than two-thirds of the Jewish state’s weapons imports. The U.S. allocated $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel between October 2023 and October 2024, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University.
In February, former President Joe Biden had directed the Pentagon and the State Department to “obtain certain assurances” regarding Israel’s use of U.S.-made weapons in Gaza. The subsequent report indicated that the “nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents” and that Washington has yet to acquire “complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles” were responsible for civilian deaths.
In May, Biden temporarily halted deliveries of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and warned that further arms could be embargoed if the Israel Defense Forces proceeded with an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza. Despite this, the IDF continued its operations, and Biden eventually lifted the temporary freeze on arms.
The State Department lauded the recent decision to reverse Biden’s “partial arms embargo” as “yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump.” Secretary Rubio invoked emergency authority to expedite this assistance, emphasizing the national security interests of the United States.
Ian Smith for TROIB News
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed a declaration to accelerate the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel, referring to President Donald Trump as the Jewish state's significant ally, according to a statement issued on Saturday.
This action is part of the White House's larger initiative to strengthen Israel’s military capabilities in the face of ongoing regional tensions. Since Trump assumed office on January 20, his administration has reportedly approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to West Jerusalem.
“This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum, which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies,” Rubio said on Saturday.
On Friday, the Pentagon revealed that the State Department had approved the potential sale of nearly $3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits, and other weaponry to Israel. This emergency approval circumvented the standard congressional review process, marking the second instance in recent weeks of expedited arms sales to Israel during a fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants. The conflict has already claimed over 1,700 Israeli and 62,000 Palestinian lives.
The U.S. stands as Israel’s largest arms supplier, accounting for more than two-thirds of the Jewish state’s weapons imports. The U.S. allocated $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel between October 2023 and October 2024, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University.
In February, former President Joe Biden had directed the Pentagon and the State Department to “obtain certain assurances” regarding Israel’s use of U.S.-made weapons in Gaza. The subsequent report indicated that the “nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents” and that Washington has yet to acquire “complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles” were responsible for civilian deaths.
In May, Biden temporarily halted deliveries of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and warned that further arms could be embargoed if the Israel Defense Forces proceeded with an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza. Despite this, the IDF continued its operations, and Biden eventually lifted the temporary freeze on arms.
The State Department lauded the recent decision to reverse Biden’s “partial arms embargo” as “yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump.” Secretary Rubio invoked emergency authority to expedite this assistance, emphasizing the national security interests of the United States.
Ian Smith for TROIB News
