US Approves Sale Of 12,000 Bombs To Israel

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The United States (US) State Department said Friday that it has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of munitions and related support services, including 12,000 aerial bombs, Xinhua reported.

The deal is worth about US$151.8 million, the department said in a statement.

Israel has requested to purchase 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies, it said.

"The Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) has determined and provided detailed justification that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and defense services is in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act," it said.

"The proposed sale will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defence, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats," it added.

The package also includes US government and contractor engineering, logistics, technical support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support, said the statement.

The US and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb 28, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, multiple senior military commanders, and hundreds of civilians. Iran has responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US assets across the region. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA