The Biden administration is set to approve the sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel, to the expected tune of more than $18 billion, a report said Monday.
The administration is also expected to notify Congress shortly of a sale of precision-guided munitions kits to Israel, CNN reported, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The transaction would be the largest sale of U.S. military equipment to Israel since it went to war with Hamas on Oct. 7.
Since Oct. 7 — when Hamas militants flooded into Israel from Gaza, indiscriminately killing over 1,200 people and igniting the war — the U.S. has made over 100 sales of military equipment to Israel, according to CNN.
Most reportedly fell short of the dollar-value threshold requiring Congress to be notified.
But the $18 billion F-15 sale is expected to spark fierce debate in Congress, as the war in Gaza and mounting associated humanitarian crisis continue to draw international criticism.
According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, at least 32,845 Palestinians have died in the war. In both Gaza and the Oct. 7 attack, civilians make up the majority of those killed.
The reported sale approval also comes amid a relatively frosty patch in the relationship between Israel and the U.S.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrapped a planned delegation to Washington, D.C. after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Days earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Israel's planned military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah a "mistake."
