US releases $3.5 billion in military funds for Israel

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Washington will provide Israel with $3.5 billion to spend on US weapons and military equipment, the State Department said on Friday, with the release of the money coming months after it was approved by Congress.

A State Department representative said on Friday that the department notified Congress on Thursday that the government intended to release the billions of dollars worth of foreign military financing, Reuters reported.

CNN first reported on the release of this amount which comes from a $14 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel passed by the Congress in April.

The move comes as the White House criticised Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for criticism of an Egypt, Qatar and US effort to restart ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Israel has “completed nearly all of its major military objectives other than the explicit war aim of bringing the hostages home”.

Tensions in the Middle East have been mounting and many fear a widening of Israel's war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

The increased risk of escalation is due to recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut, which drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gaza Health Ministry says that since then Israel's military assault on the enclave has killed about 39,700 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations.