Democrat locks Trump government plan to sell heavy bombs to Israel

O congressman Gregory Meeks of New York said he would not give his approval for the sale due to “serious and unresolved concerns” about how these ammunition could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The Trump administration has not provided sufficient guarantees that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu administration in accordance with US law and adequate protections for civilians,” Meeks said in a statement.

Therefore, I will not authorize this sale at this time”, he added.

Meeks' objections, however, should not affect the sale, which was informally communicated to congressmen on Tuesday.

As soon as the formal notification is sent to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio may circumvent the standard process of parliamentary review, declaring the transaction as an urgent matter of national security.

Rubio has acted this way before, even bypassing the normal process of revising Congress to approve a sale of nearly $3 billion to Israel last year.

In January, the Trump government approved a new series of arms sales to Israel, totaling $6.67 billion (€5.78 billion).

The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 large-power bombs of approximately 900 kg, according to information reported by the Associated Press (AP).

The transfer of 900 kg bombs had been suspended by the Biden government due to concerns about the possibility of a large number of victims.

The sale proposal is only the latest in a series of measures by the Trump administration to strengthen Israel's military capacity, occurring at a time when the country faces growing international isolation due to the war in Gaza.

The Gaza Strip war was triggered by Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023 in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people died and 251 were taken hostage.

In retaliation, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the enclave, which caused more than 73,000 deaths, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, a humanitarian disaster, the destruction of almost all the infrastructure in the territory and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

Since the beginning of the current ceasefire, agreed in October last year, the Gaza Strip authorities have accounted for more than 1,300 Palestinians killed in attacks by Israeli forces, which maintain high restrictions on the entry of independent journalists and observers into the territory.