The US State Department has moved a $1 billion package of weapons aid for Israel into the congressional review process, a US official said on Tuesday.
The latest weapons package includes tank rounds, mortars and armored tactical vehicles, one of the officials told Reuters.
It includes the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
The chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs committees review major foreign weapons deals.
Delay of shipments
President Joe Biden said last week he had delayed a shipment of 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 more 500-pound bombs to Israel over concerns they might be used for a major invasion of Rafah, a town in southern Gaza.
“We have paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because we don’t believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday, the WSJ stated.
Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to invade Rafah without safeguards for civilians, seven months into a war that has devastated Gaza.
The president said last week he would consider withholding additional weapons if Israel assaulted "population centers" in Rafah, adding that he said that he would continue providing weapons to Israel only for the purpose of self-defense, the WSJ report stated.
Biden's support for Israel in its war against Hamas has emerged as a political liability for the president, particularly among young Democrats, as he runs for re-election this year.