Biden administration plans $1bn arms shipment to Israel
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The Biden administration has said it will send more than $1 billion in additional arms and ammunition to Israel.
It is the first arms shipment to Israel to be revealed since the administration put another arms transfer, consisting of 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds each, on hold this month.
The US government said it paused that bomb transfer to keep Israel from using those particular munitions in its offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing concern for civilians.
The package disclosed by three congressional aides includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds.
There was no immediate indication when the arms would be sent. Two congressional aides said the shipment is not part of the long-delayed foreign aid package that Congress passed and Joe Biden signed last month. It is not known if the shipment was the latest tranche from an existing arms sale or something new.
The Biden administration has come under criticism from both sides of the political spectrum over its military support for Israel’s now seven-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza.
Some of Mr Biden’s fellow Democrats have pushed him to limit transfers of offensive weapons to Israel to pressure the US ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. Protests on college campuses around the US have driven home the message this spring.
Republican lawmakers have seized on the administration’s pause on the bomb transfers, saying any lessening of US support for Israel — its closest ally in the Middle East — weakens that country as it fights Hamas and other Iran-backed groups. In the House, they are planning to advance a Bill this week to mandate the delivery of offensive weapons for Israel.
Despite the one-time suspension of a bomb shipment, Mr Biden and administration officials have made clear they will continue other weapons deliveries and overall military support to Israel, which is the largest recipient of US military aid.
Mr Biden will see to it that “Israel has all of the military means it needs to defend itself against all of its enemies, including Hamas,” John Kirby, national security spokesman, told reporters on Monday.
“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.”
