{"id":266614,"date":"2026-01-31T05:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T05:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T05:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T05:25:15","slug":"state-department-approves-more-than-15b-for-israel-saudi-arabia-in-arms-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266614\/","title":{"rendered":"State Department approves more than $15B for Israel, Saudi Arabia in arms sales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department late Friday announced it had approved two arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia worth $6.67 billion and $9 billion.<\/p>\n

The sales come as the Trump administration<\/a> moves forward with its peacekeeping plan in Gaza and amid the threat of U.S. military strikes in Iran.<\/p>\n

Thirty Apache helicopters with rocket launchers make up the largest part of the sale to Israel, along with 3,250 light tactical vehicles,\u00a0power packs for armored personnel carriers and a number of light utility helicopters.<\/p>\n

The State Department said the sale would\u00a0“enhance Israel\u2019s capability<\/a> to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel\u2019s borders, vital infrastructure and population centers.”<\/p>\n

ISRAEL SET TO REOPEN GAZA’S RAFAH BORDER CROSSING WITH EGYPT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MAY 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Netanyahu <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2025. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” it said.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia will receive 730 Patriot missiles and related equipment that “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region,” the department<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\"Trump <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2025. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“This enhanced capability will protect land forces of Saudi Arabia, the United States and local allies and will significantly improve Saudi Arabia\u2019s contribution” to the integrated air and missile defense system in the region.<\/p>\n

On Thursday during a Cabinet meeting, President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said they believe Hamas will disarm under a U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire plan<\/a> as it enters its second phase.<\/p>\n

But regional analysts have warned the terror group<\/a> has no intention of disarming and could even block Trump\u2019s Gaza plan altogether.<\/p>\n

\"apache <\/p>\n

An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter flying over the Gaza Strip in May 2025. (Jack Guez\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

“Hamas will do\u00a0all the possible and creative maneuvers<\/a>\u00a0and manipulations in order to keep its power and influence in the Gaza Strip,”\u00a0professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

“The Israel Defense Forces are the only entity that can disarm Hamas.”<\/p>\n

Fox News’ Emma Bussey and the Associated Press contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The U.S. State Department late Friday announced it had approved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54,85,46,47,43,238,78,13931],"class_list":{"0":"post-266614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-middle-east","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-saudi-arabia","15":"tag-state-department"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}