On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he had signed a declaration to accelerate the delivery of US$4 billion (NZ$7.1 billion) in military aid to Israel.
US approves major military assistance to Israel
Since taking office on 20 January, the Trump administration has approved US$12 billion in foreign military sales to Israel. Rubio stated that the US would continue using all available tools to support Israel’s security and counter regional threats.
Rubio also explained that he had used emergency powers to speed up the military aid delivery to Israel, which is in a fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants in Gaza.
Emergency arms sales to Israel
The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that the State Department had approved the sale of nearly US$3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits, and other weapons to Israel. This sale was notified to Congress as an emergency, bypassing the usual review process by the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees.
This marks the second time in recent weeks that the Trump administration has declared an emergency to approve arms sales to Israel. The Biden administration used the same authority to approve arms sales without congressional review.
Policy changes and ceasefire developments
On Sunday, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era policy that required the US to report potential violations of international law involving weapons supplied to allies, including Israel. It also cut back on US humanitarian aid to foreign countries.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, reached on 19 January, ended 15 months of conflict. It also opened talks on resolving the war and led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages from Gaza and around 2,000 Palestinian detainees from Israel.
Just before the first phase of the ceasefire expired, Israel agreed to a proposal from President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire during the Ramadan and Passover periods. However, both sides have accused each other of breaching the ceasefire, leaving uncertainty about the second phase of the agreement. This phase aims for further releases of hostages and prisoners and steps towards a permanent resolution.
