Report: US to Unblock Bomb Shipments to Israel Amid Gaza War
The United States has decided to release a shipment of 1,800 bombs to Israel that was suspended several months ago amid concerns over destruction in the Gaza City of Rafah, Axios reported.
According to unnamed US and Israeli officials who spoke with the news site, the administration of US President Joe Biden is willing to send a batch of 500-pound (226kg) bombs that were put on hold in April. At the time, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cited Israel’s failure to heed warnings that it “shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space".Axios suggested the unfreezing means the US is now less worried that Israel could use those bombs in the Gaza Strip, as it seeks to improve relations with its key Middle East ally, which had been strained since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October. The bombs are reportedly due to be delivered in two weeks, after Israel’s military operation in Rafah is over.
US and Israeli officials are still in talks on another part of the shipment that includes 1,800 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs, the report added. Axios also noted that negotiations on releasing arms to Israel were delayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public jabs at Washington on the matter.On Friday, Reuters reported that since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the US has provided Israel with a total of 14,000 of the 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire missiles, and other munitions. Washington has also sent $6.5 billion in security assistance since October 7.More than 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.Human rights organizations have warned that thousands of people in the besieged enclave are facing the risk of famine amid ongoing Israeli devastating onslaught.#Gaza#Israel#US
09:43 - 11 تیر 1403
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