Authors: Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakir and Humaira Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration used emergency authorization to bypass the U.S. Congress to speed up the sale of more than 20,000 bombs worth about $650 million to Israel, two U.S. officials familiar with the sales said.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement late Friday that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed requiring an immediate arms sale to Israel and waived congressional review requirements for the sale.
The weapons package includes 12,000 BLU-110A/B universal 1,000-pound bombs requested by Israel, a week after the United States and Israel began a joint air war against Iran in Washington’s largest military campaign since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The United States said the operation was focused on destroying Iran’s offensive missiles, missile production and navy, putting the region on the brink of a wider war as Tehran also retaliated with attacks against Israel and regional countries that host U.S. bases.
“The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, adding that the prime contractor would be Texas-based Repkon USA.
On Saturday, a State Department official provided more details about the sale, saying it also included the BLU-111 500-pound general purpose bomb, a revision of a previous sale. Israel will purchase an additional $298 million worth of critical munitions through direct commercial sales, the official added.
The United Nations said in a December 2024 report that the Israeli military may have used these heavy weapons and ammunition in densely populated Gaza, where Israeli operations against Hamas militants have killed tens of thousands of civilians.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks said Rubio’s decision to use emergency powers to bypass congressional review showed Rubio’s lack of preparation for a war with Iran.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it is fully prepared for this war. The rush to invoke emergency powers to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration’s own making,” Meeks said in a statement.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said U.S. and Israeli attacks last week have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and injured thousands more. Many senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were also killed.
The U.S. military said six U.S. service members were killed in attacks on facilities in Kuwait, while Israel said at least 10 civilians have been killed across Israel so far.
Washington has maintained strong support for Israel under President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden during its more than two years of war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The Trump administration has also previously made arms sales to Israel by skipping congressional review, and this was also the case under the Biden administration.
Washington’s military support has come under scrutiny from human rights experts, particularly during Israel’s assault on Gaza that killed tens of thousands, created a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and led to genocide assessments by scholars and a United Nations investigation.
Israel said it acted in self-defence after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in an October 2023 attack.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Christian Martinez, Tom Hogue and Franklin Paul)
