The US has approved the sale of $20bn in fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel, as the Pentagon says it is “committed to the security of Israel”.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken approved the sale of F-15 jets and equipment worth nearly $19bn along with tank cartridges valued at $774m, explosive mortar cartridges valued at over $60m and army vehicles worth $583m, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Boeing Co F-15 fighter jets were expected to take years to produce, and deliveries were expected to begin in 2029. Other equipment would begin delivery in 2026, according to the Pentagon.

The US, Israel’s biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, US officials told Reuters in June.

The approval comes as western diplomats have scrambled to prevent a major conflagration in the Middle East, after Iran and its allies blamed Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.

Iran has rejected western calls not to retaliate against Israel for the killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, late last month. “Such demands lack political logic, are entirely contrary to the principles and rules of international law, and represent an excessive request,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanani, said. A report on Tuesday from the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone conversation late on Monday with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said that the west’s silence about “unprecedented inhumane crime” in Gaza, and Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Middle East, was “irresponsible” and encouraged Israel to put regional and global security at risk.
Only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials have told Reuters. A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller “symbolic” response, one of the sources said.
Asked on Tuesday if he thought Iran might forgo a retaliatory strike if a Gaza ceasefire was reached, Joe Biden said: “That’s my expectation.” The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Washington’s goal in the Middle East is to “turn the temperature down,” deter and defend against any future attacks, and avoid regional conflict. “That starts with finalising a deal for an immediate ceasefire with hostage release in Gaza. We need to get this over the finish line,” she told a UN security council meeting.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s ultranationalist national security minister, defied longstanding rules to lead hundreds of Israelis in singing Jewish hymns and performing religious rituals on the raised compound in Jerusalem’s Old City known as al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims. Under a longstanding but fragile arrangement, Jews can visit the site but not pray there. The compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Ben-Gvir’s visit “deviated from the status quo” and that Israel’s policy on the Temple Mount remained unchanged.

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