by Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration has asked the U.S. Congress to approve the sale to Israel of 45,000 artillery shells for its Merkava tanks, which will be used in Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a current U.S. official and a former State Department spokesperson.
The request comes amid growing concern over the use of U.S. weapons in a war that has left thousands of civilians dead since Israel launched a military offensive in the Strip. of Gaza after the surprise attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas on its territory.
This potential sale, worth more than $500 million (464 million euros), is the subject of informal review by the Foreign Affairs committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Josh Paul, a former State Department spokesman, and a U.S. official said the State Department was pressuring congressional committees to quickly approve the deal.
“The commissions were contacted at the beginning of the week and they are supposed to have 20 days to examine the file. The State Department is pushing them to decide now,” Josh Paul told Reuters.
A State Department spokesperson said that, as a matter of policy, “we do not confirm or comment on proposed transfers or sales of defense equipment until they have been formally notified to Congress.”
(Reporting Humeyra Pamuk, with contributions from Idrees Ali and Mike Stone; French version Camille Raynaud)
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