Top Democrat on US House committee will not support Israel bomb sale

Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. ‌Representative Gregory Meeks, ​the ​top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday he would ‌not support the sale of 2,000-pound bombs to ⁠Israel over concerns the munitions would not be used in ‌accordance with international law.

President ‌Donald Trump's administration is planning to sell to Israel a munitions package worth $2.8 billion and including tens of ​thousands of highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs, according to a U.S. official familiar with the sale.

The leaders of ⁠congressional committees review sales under an informal process, but the objection by ​Meeks, a New York Democrat, alone is not enough to prevent the president from ​going ahead with the sale ‌if he declares that an emergency requires an immediate sale

Trump has sidestepped Congressional review ⁠before to expedite military sales to Israel, reflecting his close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government even ⁠before the two countries launched the war on Iran on ​February 28.

In a statement, Meeks said he is committed to Israel's security. "But the Trump administration’s proposed sale of 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, ‌some of the most destructive munitions in our arsenal, raises grave, unresolved concerns ‌about how these munitions could be used in densely ⁠populated areas of Gaza ‌and Lebanon," he ​said.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Ryan Patrick Jones; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Alistair ‌Bell)

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