U.S. officials say Biden administration plans to sell $8 billion in weapons to Israel

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- United States President Joe Biden's administration has decided to approve an estimated 8-billion-U.S.-dollar weapons sale to Israel aimed at replenishing its depleted stock of crucial ammunition and strengthening its air defenses.

The sale of various ordnance and weapons "is meant to replenish ammunition for Israel that is essential to maintaining its critical air defense capabilities and to ensure the long- term security of Israel," according to a U.S. official, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

Several U.S. media outlets also reported on Saturday, citing the unnamed U.S. officials, that the State Department had notified both chambers of Congress on March 3 about the planned sale.

According to these reports, the sale would include 9,600 AIM-120C8 type "Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile," 130,000 155 mm artillery rounds, 1,301 AGM-114 Raytheon-made "Hellfire II" air-to-ground missiles (ATGMs), 10,300 small diameter bombs, and 56,260 JDAM tail kits that turn non-guided bombs with tail fins to a precision-guidance kit. Most items on the list of weaponry that will be sold to Israel are expected to take more than a year to deliver.

According to the reports, following receipt of the notification, the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees will begin deliberations to determine whether to oppose or approve the proposed sale.

The sale plan, if passed by Congress in due course, is expected to be among the Biden administration's last weapons sales to Israel, as it enters its final month of office.

Figures compiled by the Watson Institute's Costs of War project at Brown University show that the U.S. government has already delivered or announced 17.9 billion dollars in military assistance to Israel since the latest Israel-Palestine war started last October.

According to data released by the Palestinian Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip on Friday, at least 46,000 Palestinians had been confirmed dead and 109,000 wounded after 42 days of Israel's military offensive in the coastal enclave since October. The rising civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip has led to an outcry in the United States against Biden's decision to keep furnishing Israel with advanced weapons.