Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked “emergency authorities” to bypass Congress and send $4 billion in weapons to Israel, the second time in a month that the Trump administration has skirted the process of congressional approval for sending arms to the country.
... The Pentagon announced details of that sale to Israel on Friday. The announcement lists several possible mixes of bombs that would be delivered, including more than 35,000 2,000-pound bombs.
…Israel has been dropping 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza, a densely populated strip of 2 million people that is about the size of Las Vegas. U.S. military officers have said the bombs are unsuitable for urban combat.
…Israel announced on Sunday that it was halting all goods and humanitarian aid into Gaza in a pressure campaign to get Hamas to accept a temporary extension to a cease-fire that had just expired. Most of the aid is from groups and governments outside of Israel, and some legal experts said Israel’s halt violated international law.
…Hamas had insisted that Israel seriously take part in talks for a permanent truce during the just-expired cease-fire, which Israel did not do.
…Hamas still holds dozens of Israeli hostages who were abducted in October 2023, when about 1,200 Israelis were killed in a Hamas-led assault in southern Israel. The Israeli military then attacked Gaza, killing nearly 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry estimates. Most of the people killed on both sides have been civilians.