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Israel to receive $1 billion in bombs and bulldozers from Trump

Israel to receive $1 billion in bombs and bulldozers from Trump

Tel Aviv is clearly exempt from the president's blitz on foreign aid

Reporting | QiOSK
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President Trump paused most foreign aid programs in January but is now asking Congress to approve $1 billion worth of bombs and demolition equipment to Israel.

The administration has been adding exceptions to its foreign aid pause since announcing it, but it seems Israel’s aid was never in jeopardy, according to diplomatic cables.

The American taxpayer will pay for the $1 billion sale of the weapons as part of the $3.8. billion military aid package sent to Israel each year. In total, from Oct. 2023 to Oct. 2024, Israel received a record-breaking $17.9 billion worth of weapons, and President Biden announced plans to send an $8 billion arms package to the nation in January, but it has not yet been fully approved by Congress.

This new arms package comes as President Trump is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. Trump also lifted the pause on the sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in late January.

The weapons and equipment included in the most recent sale include 1,000-pound “general purpose” bombs and Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers, which have historically been used to raze houses and other buildings in the West Bank as collective punishment, including as part of an ongoing operation in Jenin.

Trump’s decision to continue large-scale arms sales to Israel is shadowed by a fragile cease-fire in Gaza, and by reports that raised the death count in Gaza to at least 62,000.


Top Photo: A Palestinian man looks at an Israeli military vehicle during an Israeli raid in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
A Palestinian man looks at an Israeli military vehicle during an Israeli raid in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
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Reporting | QiOSK
‘Water War’ rages as India-Pakistan tensions reach boiling point
Top image credit: A view of Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam), which is near the proposed site of the Shahpur Kandi Dam. (Shutterstock/mrinalpal)

A view of Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam), which is near the proposed site of the Shahpur Kandi Dam. (Shutterstock/mrinalpal)

‘Water War’ rages as India-Pakistan tensions reach boiling point

Global Crises

Last week, water became a focal point in the Iran war, as airstrikes hit desalination plants in Iran and Bahrain. Further east, a slower motion water war was playing out — one that is heightening tensions between two nuclear armed powers.

The Shahpur Kandi Dam project was first conceptualized in the late 1970s. In 1982, former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid its foundation stone and set a 1988 deadline for the project. But inter-state conflicts between Punjab, Jammu, and Kashmir stalled construction for decades.

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Not so diplomatic: Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump’s march to war in Iran
Top image credit: U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attend the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Not so diplomatic: Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump’s march to war in Iran

Middle East

Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East who President Donald Trump tasked with negotiating a deal with Iran, does not sound very much like a diplomat lately.

“There’s almost no stopping them, they have an endless supply of [enriched uranium],” Witkoff told Sean Hannity the day the war began. “They thought they could strong-arm us. ... It was very, very clear that it was — it was going to be impossible, probably by the second meeting.”

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Pete Hegseth
Top Image Credit: Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine hold briefing on the U.S. - Iran war 3/13/2026 CNBC Television [YouTube/Screenshot]

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Hegseth lauds Iran campaign but ignores shrinking US stockpiles

QiOSK

At a Pentagon press conference Friday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cheered about how U.S. operations against Iran have blunted Tehran’s munitions capacities and ability to fight.

“Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no navy. Their missiles, their missile launchers and drones are being destroyed or shot out of the sky,” Hegseth said, telling reporters the United States and Israel have struck over 15,000 targets in Iran. “Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones yesterday [were] down 95%.”

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