By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements on Friday came as the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defense replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.
They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5 billion and to Israel of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems costing $992.4 million. The State Department approved a sale to the UAE of APKWS for $147.6 million.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries' human rights track records that rights advocates say involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and laborers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
U.S. support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel's assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a U.N. inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Ryan Patrick Jones and Christian Martinez; editing by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates)
