As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza intensifies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved a $147.5 million arms sale to Israel through an emergency authority that bypasses the standard congressional review process. In a Friday announcement, the State Department said the proposed sale of 155-mm artillery shells and related equipment is consistent with the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and efforts to help it “develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability.” UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said Friday that IDF soldiers fired on a U.N. aid convoy returning from a delivery in northern Gaza, an incident U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths condemned as “unlawful.”
