Washington has shipped USD 1 billion in additional arms and ammunition to Israel, according to three congressional aides on Tuesday. Even though an apparent rift between the United States and Israel over a military offensive in Gaza’s Rafah, the United States and Israel have a strong argument. This is the first arms shipment that Biden has made public since the suspension of the transfer of 3,500 bombs prior to this month because of increasing concerns about the Rafah assault.
Also read: Salman Khan House Firing Case: Sixth Accused Held In Haryana
Package details
The package, according to congressional officials, contains roughly $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million for tactical vehicles, and $60 million for mortar rounds.
The administration further stated that it had ceased earlier arms supply to prevent Israel from exploiting the explosives in its escalating attack in the extremely populated southern Gaza City of Rafah.
‘Limit transfer of offensive weapons to Israel’
US President Joe Biden has been pushed by the Democrats to limit the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel. The protests by college students around the campuses have sent a message, to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. The administration’s decision to halt the bomb shipments has been pounced upon by Republican senators, who claim that any reduction in US backing for Israel, the US’s closest Middle East partner, will diminish Israel’s ability to combat Hamas and other organisations with Iranian backing. This week, a bill to require the delivery of offensive weapons to Israel will be advanced in the House.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that it will “terrible harm to civilians,” and fail to eliminate Hamas. “There will still be thousands of armed Hamas left,”
A White House ally, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), disparaged the verdict, saying, “We should not be proceeding with any additional offensive arms transfers until the United States receives clear assurances from the Netanyahu government that the president’s concerns regarding Rafah have been addressed and his demands for the delivery of humanitarian assistance have been met.”
Also read: PM Modi Officially Files Nomination Paper From Varanasi Constituency
Statement of John Kirby
The national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that “Israel has all of the military means it needs to defend itself against all of its enemies, including Hamas,”. “For him, this is very straightforward: He’s going to continue to provide Israel with all of the capabilities it needs, but he does not want certain categories of American weapons used in a particular type of operation in a particular place. And again, he has been clear and consistent with that.”
About Author
This Article has been written by Ms Sayani Mondal, who is a Defense and security enthusiast with interest in geopolitical analysis and cyber threats. She is skilled researcher with a passion for applying academic knowledge to real-world national security challenges.
