US releases $4.6 billion to Israel to spend on US weapons, military equipment

WASHINGTON - Washington will provide Israel with US$3.5 billion ($4.6 billion) to spend on American weapons and military equipment, the State Department said on Aug 9, with the release of the money coming months after the US Congress appropriated it during Israel’s war in Gaza.

A State Department spokesman said that the department notified Congress on Aug 8 that the government intended to release the billions of dollars worth of foreign military financing to Israel.

CNN reported earlier on the release of this amount which comes from a US$14 billion supplemental funding Bill for Israel passed by the Congress in April.

Tensions in the Middle East have been mounting and many fear a widening of Israel’s war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after the recent killings of

Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran

and of

Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut

drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered

on Oct 7 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel

, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gaza health ministry says that since then, Israel’s retaliatory assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies. REUTERS