Reuters quoted four sources familiar with the issue, including a current US official and a former one, as saying that the demand has been raised amid worries about the use of US-made arms in the relentless bombing and shelling of residential areas and health centers in Gaza, which has caused the killing of over 17,000 civilians in the besieged area since October 7.
The members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees are engaged in informal discussions with the administration about their concerns. The American lawmakers have the privilege to stall the sale.
The US State Department is trying to persuade the congressional committees to hastily approve the transaction, said both the current US official and Josh Paul, a former State Department official.
Paul noted that the request was submitted to the committees earlier this week and the members are expected to review cases regarding Israel within 20 days.
In October, Paul resigned from the State Department in protest over what he described as the administration's "blind support" for the Israeli regime.
Reuters earlier reported that the US provides the regime with 3.8 billion dollars of military aids per annum, including fighter jets and that the Biden administration has recently called on Congress to approve extra 14 billion dollars for the Israeli regime.
US-based news website, Axios, has also reported that the US provided the Israeli regime with over 70,000 weapons, including aircraft, ground vehicles, missiles and bombs, via military aid between 1950 and 2022.
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