TEHRAN – The US administration’s approval of massive arms sales to Israel has highlighted Donald Trump’s motivation to mediate a ceasefire between the Tel Aviv administration and Hamas.
Trump praises the ceasefire that came into effect on January 19th. That was the day before he was officially sworn into his second term as President of the United States.
His predecessor, Joe Biden, also claims credit to the armistice agreement that suspended Israel’s war with Gaza.
On Friday, the US State Department officially told Congress it plans to sell more than $7.4 billion in weapons to Israel.
Two separate sales were sent to Congress for approval. One is $6.75 billion in an array of ammunition, guidance kits and other related equipment. It includes 166 small diameter bombs, 2,800 500-pound bombs, thousands of guidance kits, Foods and other bomb components and support equipment. These delivery starts this year. Another arm package is for 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment, with an estimated cost of $660 million. Missile delivery is scheduled to begin in 2028.
The Trump administration announced Friday that it approved military sales to Israel on Friday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Trump a few days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with him at the White House.
Before taking office, Trump had put pressure on Netanyahu to end the Gaza War.
However, his green light for considerable arms sales would lead to Israel promoting it to renew the war on genocide with Gaza.
More than 61,700 Palestinians have been killed in a war on Israeli territory that lasted more than 15 months, Gaza officials said.
Since Israel began the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Washington has thrown full military weight behind the administration.
Reports from the costs of Brown University’s war project reveal that Washington recorded $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel in October last year since the start of the conflict.
In January this year, the Biden administration notified Congress that it had proposed selling $8 billion in arms to Israel.
Despite his pledge to end the war in the Middle East, Trump is following in Biden’s footsteps.
The US administration has put a great effort into supporting Israel’s military capabilities, regardless of partnerships with Republicans and Democrats.
Trump tried to project an image of opposition to the Gaza War. However, the $7.4 billion weapons sale clearly shows that his stance and other concepts of stance are misguided.
The ceasefire mediated between Israel and Hamas by the United States, Egypt and Qatar only glossed Israel’s military set-off in the Gaza Strip.
Israel failed to defeat Hamas, one of the main military targets in the war with Gaza.