The United States government under the leadership of President Joe Biden has approved the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians, sources claimed.
It was gathered that the new arms packages include more than 1800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter.
The 2000-pound bombs have been linked to prior major mortality incidents during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
These officials, like others, talked with The Washington Post under the condition of anonymity because recent authorisations have not been made public.
The development demonstrates that while schisms have formed between the United States and Israel over the war’s conduct, the Biden administration considers weapons deliveries to be off-limits when attempting to influence Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions.
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” said a White House official. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.”
Some Democrats, including allies of President Biden, say the U.S. government has a responsibility to withhold weapons in the absence of an Israeli commitment to limit civilian casualties during a planned operation in Rafah, a final Hamas stronghold, and ease restrictions on humanitarian aid into the enclave, which is on the brink of famine.
The Israeli government declined to comment on the authorisations.
Four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah, say U.S. and Israeli officials. More than 1.2 million Palestinians have sought shelter there after being forced from their homes during Israel’s extensive bombing campaign over the past five months. Biden suggested that a scorched-earth invasion of the city along Gaza’s border with Egypt would cross a “red line” for him.
Biden requested that Netanyahu send a team of security officials to Washington this week to listen to U.S. proposals for limiting the bloodshed. Netanyahu cancelled the visit after the United States refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages, but which did not condemn Hamas.
Israeli officials have not allayed U.S. concerns about the impending operation in Rafah, but they agreed to reschedule the meeting in Washington, the White House said
