US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has affirmed reports that the United States delayed a weapons shipment to Israel, as President Joe Biden’s organisation faces developing weight to condition help to the best US partner in the midst of the war in Gaza.
Testifying some time recently at a US congressional subcommittee on Wednesday, Austin said the Biden organisation had delayed “one shipment of tall payload munitions” in the midst of concerns around the Israeli military’s thrust to attack the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
US-Israel Relations
“We’ve been exceptionally clear … from the exceptionally starting that Israel shouldn’t dispatch a major assault into Rafah without bookkeeping for and securing the civilians that are in that battlespace,” Austin told US lawmakers
“We’ve not made a last assurance on how to continue with that shipment [of weapons],” the Pentagon chief included, noticing that the exchange is isolated from a supplemental help bundle for Israel.
“My last comment is that we are completely committed to proceeding to back Israel in its right to protect itself.”
Biden to withhold weapons from Israel
President Biden himself talked to the prospect of withholding weapons from Israel in an meet that published on CNN afterward on Wednesday, upbraiding the prospect of a major hostile in Rafah.
He clarified that the US would not be “walking absent from Israel’s security”, but would or maybe be venturing absent from supporting “Israel’s capacity to wage war in those areas”. He cited the utilisation of US weapons against civilians as a reason for the pause.
“Civilians have been slaughtered in Gaza as a result of those bombs and other ways in which they go after populace centres,” Biden said.
Israel’s minister to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, reacted to the shipment delay by saying the US choice was “very disappointing”.
Biden Administration’s Stance on Gaza Conflict
“[US President Joe Biden] can’t say he is our accomplice in the objective to annihilate Hamas, whereas on the other hand delay the implications implied to crush Hamas,” Erdan said.
Kimberly Halkett, announcing from the White House on Wednesday, said the shipment included 1,800 bombs, each weighing around 900kg (2,000lbs), and another 1,700 bombs – each weighing 226kg (500lbs).
US Representative Bernie Sanders invited the Biden administration’s delay on the weapons exchange, but said it “must be a to begin with step”.
Sanders stated in a statement that “the US must now use all its resources to request a swift ceasefire, the end of the assaults on Rafah, and the quick delivery of enormous sums of compassionate help to individuals living in desperation.”
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Domestic pressure on Biden
Still, human rights advocates have encouraged the US to do more to weigh the nation to conclude its war on Gaza, and President Biden faces mounting dissents — counting on US college campuses — over his stance.
Between Biden and his Majority rule Party base, which may posture a challenge as he campaigns for re-election in November.
The survey by Information for Advance, in collaboration with news site Zeteo, proposed that 56 percent of Democrats accepted Israel was committing “genocide” in the assaulted Palestinian territory.
It too found that seven in 10 American voters — and 83 percent of Democrats — too bolster a changeless ceasefire in Gaza.
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Tanuja Baura is an international relations student, passionate about understanding global dynamics, diplomacy, and the complexities of international affairs.
