Washington will provide Israel with $3.5 billion to spend on U.S. weapons and military equipment, the State Department announced on Friday. This release comes months after the U.S. Congress appropriated the funds during the ongoing Gaza conflict.

A State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the department had notified Congress on Thursday of the government's intention to release the billions of dollars worth of foreign military financing to Israel.

CNN earlier reported on the release of this amount, which comes from a $14 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel passed by Congress in April.

Tensions in the Middle East have been mounting, and many fear a widening of the Israel-Hamas conflict that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after the recent killings of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, which drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that since then, Israel's military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.

(With input from Reuters)