State Department approves $320 million sale of guided bomb equipment to Israel
The US State Department has authorized a $320 million sale to Israel of equipment for kits that convert unguided bombs into more accurate, GPS-guided munitions. a letter sent by the department to Congress and obtained by The New York Times.
The order is in addition to a previous order for the same equipment, which was valued at almost $403 million.
Israel has used the kits during its bombing of Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government in the enclave, the Israeli attacks have resulted in the deaths of about 10,000 Palestinians, 40 percent of whom young children and teenagers.
In addition to the equipment for guided bomb kits, Israel has also ordered more ammunition from the United States. Modern militaries generally add guidance systems to their bombs with the aim of minimizing civilian casualties, although the damage can still be devastating, especially in urban areas.
Israel’s arsenal of aerial munitions consists largely of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs, among the largest used by any military force. Israel dropped at least two 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza’s densely populated Jabaliya neighborhood in an airstrike on October 31. That strike killed dozens of people and injured many more, according to Gaza authorities and hospital officials.
Israel says it has successfully attacked a senior Hamas commander who helped plan the Oct. 7 attacks from Gaza, in which Hamas fighters and other gunmen it says killed more than 1,400 people, most of them Israeli civilians, and have kidnapped more than 1,400 people. 240 others. Hamas denies that any of its commanders were in the Jabaliya area at the time of the October 31 attack.
Coincidentally, the State Department sent a letter about the new bomb sales to congressional offices on the day of that attack on Jabaliya. That’s what the letter says Rafael advanced defense systemsan arms maker owned by the Israeli Ministry of Defense will pay $320 million for equipment and services for ‘Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies’, a reference to a species precision bomb kit created by Raphael. The seller of the equipment is Rafael USA, an American company based in Bethesda, Maryland, which has ties to the Israeli company.
It involves a sale in which a foreign entity purchases weapons directly from a U.S. company rather than through the U.S. government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore only has to announce its approval through narrow channels. The congressional record notes that the State Department filed the letter on Oct. 31, but the letter is not available on public congressional websites or the State Department’s site.
The letter was sent by Naz Durakoglu, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs, to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, both of which have oversight hold on the approval of arms sales by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Israel’s request for permission to purchase $320 million worth of bomb equipment was placed earlier this year and had gone through an informal review process with congressional committees, but had not received final approval from the State Department before the October 7 attacks received, said Josh Paul. a recent State Department official who worked in the Political-Military Bureau, which oversees arms sales.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ previous order for the same type of equipment, valued at nearly $403 million, was approved by the ministry on February 5, according to the letter.