USA to Transfer Billion Dollars’ Worth of Arms and Ammunition to Israel
However, the transfer of 3500 special bombs that Israel could use in an offensive against the southern city of Rafah is still on hold
US President Joe Biden changed his mind: after blocking shipments of military equipment in recent weeks, citing “concerns over civilian casualties in Gaza,” the White House announced on Tuesday, May 14, that it would soon send it in large quantities to the Jewish state. More precisely, this concerns arms and ammunition worth more than a billion dollars, but without specifying the timeframe within which the delivery will take place.
According to anonymous sources in the US Congress cited by the media, the new package “includes about $700 million to supply Israel with ammunition for tanks, another $500 million for tactical vehicles and spare parts, and $60 million are allocated for mortar shells.”
It will be the first arms shipment to Israel since the announcement earlier this month of a decision to temporarily suspend a previous arms transfer, including 3500 bombs weighing about one ton each, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is using to destroy tunnels dug by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration said it had “suspended” the transfer of the bombs to prevent Israel from “using those very munitions in its offensive on the southern city of Rafah,” where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are currently being held.