A US official has confirmed to the BBC that the US State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion ($6.4 billion) arms sale to Israel.
The arms shipment, which requires approval by House and Senate committees, includes missiles, shells and other munitions.
The move comes just a fortnight before President Joe Biden leaves office. Washington has rejected calls to suspend military support to Israel because of the number of civilians killed during the war in Gaza.
In August, the US approved the sale of $20 billion worth of fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel.
The latest planned shipment includes air-to-air missiles, Hellfire missiles, artillery shells and bombs, the US official said.
A source familiar with the sale told the BBC on Saturday: “The president has made it clear that Israel must defend its citizens in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law and stop aggression by Iran and its proxy organizations. has the right.
“We will continue to provide the capabilities necessary to defend Israel.”
Biden has often described American support for Israel as iron-fisted.
The United States is by far the largest arms supplier to Israel, helping it build the most technologically advanced military in the world.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States accounted for 69 percent of Israel’s major conventional arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
On October 7, 2023, Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.
More than 45,580 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry.