Secretary of state Marco Rubio has invoked “emergency authorities” to bypass Congress and send $4 billion in weapons to Israel, the second time in a month that the Trump administration has skirted the process of congressional approval for sending arms to the country.

Rubio did not explain in a statement announcing the decision on Saturday why he was using an emergency authority. He said only that the Trump administration would “continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”

State department officials told the two congressional committees in the House and Senate that review foreign weapons sales about the emergency declaration on Friday. At least one congressional official privately expressed alarm at the bypassing of the review.

Several of the cases of munitions to be sent to Israel were undergoing review in Congress. But one large case worth about $2 billion had not been sent by the state department to Congress for review, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about sensitive weapons deals.

The Pentagon announced details of that sale to Israel on Friday. The announcement lists several possible mixes of bombs that would be delivered, including more than 35,000 2,000-pound bombs.

Israel has been dropping 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza, a densely populated strip of 2 million people that is about the size of Las Vegas. US military officers have said the bombs are unsuitable for urban combat.

President Joseph R. Biden Jr. sent several orders of the bombs to Israel, then withheld one shipment last summer as Israel prepared to attack Rafah, a shelter point for many displaced Palestinians. Israel destroyed much of Rafah anyway, and the Trump White House released the shipment days after President Donald Trump took office in late January.

Israel announced on Sunday that it was halting all goods and humanitarian aid into Gaza in a pressure campaign to get Hamas to accept a temporary extension to a ceasefire that had just expired. Most of the aid is from groups and governments outside of Israel, and some legal experts said Israel’s halt violated international law.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the proposal for a ceasefire extension had been the idea of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to West Asia.

New York Times News Service