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The Biden administration circumvented Congress for a second time this month to send additional weapons to Israel, the State Department announced on Friday. The sale comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> promised<\/a> last week to \u201cdeepen\u201d the Israeli military\u2019s operations in the territory; Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps<\/a> in central Gaza on Saturday.<\/p>\n Secretary of State Antony Blinken<\/strong> informed Congress of the $147.5 million sale on Friday, the State Department said<\/a> in a statement. The transfer includes 155 mm artillery shells, as well as the fuses, chargers, and primers that are necessary to use them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d added the State Department. \u201cThis proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n Over 21,500 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Recent analysis from The New York Times<\/em><\/a> and The<\/em> Washington Post<\/em><\/a> has revealed the Israeli military campaign to have already been one of the most destructive and deadly of this century.<\/p>\n Josh Paul<\/strong>, a former State Department official who resigned in October in protest of the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the war, told<\/a> The Washington Post<\/em> that the weapons will allow Israel to continue the sorts of military operations that have, he said, \u201cled to so many Palestinian civilian deaths.\u201d \u201cThis is shameful, craven, and should frankly turn the stomach of any decent human being,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s transfer marks the second emergency weapons transfer the U.S. has facilitated this month. On December 9, the State Department approved the sale of about 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel worth about $106.5 million, also circumventing Congressional approval.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes struck two refugee camps in Gaza, The Associated Press<\/em> reported<\/a>. Since October 7, Israel\u2019s military operations have displaced over 85% of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza, and Israeli forces have begun calling<\/a> refugee camps in central Gaza \u201ca new battle zone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees warned<\/a> Thursday that the territory is \u201cgrappling with catastrophic hunger\u201d as the Israeli military operations moved south to parts of the enclave where hundreds of thousands of civilians who were displaced by earlier rounds of bombardment have taken shelter. Yet despite growing international calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, Herzi Halevi<\/strong>, the head of the Israel Defense Forces, said last week that the war will not end<\/a> for \u201cmany more months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n