One of lime and another of sand for Israel in the United States Government. Joe Biden’s Administration has informally notified Congress that it plans to go ahead with a new shipment of weapons worth more than 1 billion dollars (920 million euros) to the allied country, a week after confirming that it had paralyzed the delivery of a shipment of thousands of 2,000-pound (907 kilo) and 500-pound bombs due to the possibility that they would be used to attack the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip and cause new massacres. The new shipment includes ammunition for tanks, mortars and military vehicles.
Confirmation of the new shipment, advanced by The Wall Street Journal, comes while the Republican opposition prepares the presentation this Wednesday in the House of Representatives of a bill that would force President Joe Biden to guarantee the supply of weapons to Israel, and the White House tries to avoid defections among Democratic legislators who could want to support that measure. The bill, called the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, directs the government to “use in the manner provided by Congress all funds that it has appropriated for the security of Israel.”
The announcement last week that the White House had stopped sending the bombs had sparked a strong wave of criticism among Republicans, who are trying to profile themselves as the party truly friendly to Israel in an election year and when a good part of Voters declare they sympathize with the allied country in the war in Gaza. But complaints had also poured in from Democratic parliamentarians who support the ally country and its powerful pro-Israel donors, especially after Biden, in an interview with CNN, threatened to paralyze aid if Israel launched a “major” operation against Rafah.
This Monday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a press conference that the United States had suspended that shipment of bombs because Washington believes that they should not be “launched on densely populated cities.” Rafah, on Gaza’s southern border, is home to more than a million Palestinians, most displaced from other areas of the Strip. The senior official clarified that his government would continue with the military aid approved last month within an assistance law for foreign allies worth almost $100 billion.
The State Department announced the new sending to the congressional committees as a prior step to formal notification to the Capitol, within the procedure established for this type of operations.
Biden and his Administration have urged Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to invade Rafah, the last Gaza city that Israeli forces have not fully entered, without putting in place measures to protect civilians and guarantee the supply of humanitarian aid to a population that in some areas already survives in famine conditions. The border town is key in the distribution of aid entering through the border crossing with Egypt, which Israeli troops have closed since occupying the area last week.
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“Enormous damage to civilians”
The US Government fears that the Israeli operation in Rafah will cause a huge number of deaths in a war that has already left more than 35,000 and more than 70,000 injured. He also believes that it will not serve the objective claimed by the Netanyahu Government, eradicating the radical Palestinian militia Hamas. Last Sunday, in an appearance on the CBS television network, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, assured that the Israeli offensive in Rafah would cause “enormous damage to civilians,” while “thousands of people would continue to camp.” [milicianos de] Hamas.”
This Wednesday, from kyiv, Blinken also urged Israel to develop a plan for the future of Gaza after the war. “We do not and will not support an occupation. Nor, of course, do we support a Hamas Government in Gaza… too many times we have seen where that leads the people of Gaza and Israel. Nor can we have anarchy and a power vacuum that would probably be filled with chaos,” said the head of US diplomacy.
The new shipment of weapons to Israel has sparked criticism among Democratic lawmakers who are demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and guarantees that the weapons will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has said Washington should not “proceed with any additional transfers of lethal weapons until it receives clear assurances from the Netanyahu government that the president’s concerns about Rafah have been resolved and his demands met. for the supply of humanitarian aid.”
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