Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Washington, D.C. — The Trump administration has approved a major nearly $3 billion arms sale to Israel, bypassing a normal congressional review to provide the country with more of the 2,000-pound bombs that it has used in its war against Hamas in Gaza.In a series of notifications sent to Congress late Friday, the State Department said it had signed off on the sale of more than 35,500 MK 84 and BLU-117 bombs and 4,000 Predator warheads worth $2.04 billion.The State Department approved Israel’s purchase of Caterpillar D9 Bulldozers and related equipment for an estimated cost of $295 million. Deliveries by the Irving, Texas-based company are expected to begin in 2027.The Defense Security Cooperation released a statement confirming a munitions sale to Israel for an estimated cost of $675.7 million. Repkon USA, located in Tampa, Florida, and The Boeing Company, located in St. Charles, Missouri, will manufacture the equipment, which is estimated to be delivered to Israel beginning in 2028.On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he had “signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.”
Rubio noted that the Trump administration has so far approved nearly $12 billion in foreign military sales to Israel.The latest arms sale comes as the first phase of the ceasefire, which paused 15 months of war, freed Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and enabled more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, is set to expire on Saturday.Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas seem willing to maintain their truce while negotiators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar guide talks aimed at getting to the next phase.The parties were supposed to have begun ironing out the details of phase two weeks ago. But talks were delayed as the first six weeks of the ceasefire were marred by disputes between Israel and Hamas over alleged violations of the deal.
Under the terms of the truce that began in Jan. 19, the second phase would compel Hamas to release all the remaining living hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that triggered the war, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners in Israel, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.Over the past six weeks, Hamas has freed 33 living and dead hostages in exchange for more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners. The militant group still holds 59 captives, 32 of whom are believed to be dead.Israel is reportedly seeking an extension of the first phase to secure the freedom of more captives.
Crisis in the Middle East
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