The administration of US President Joe Biden has told key lawmakers that it would send more than US$1 billion in additional arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said on Tuesday.
It was not immediately known how soon the weapons would be delivered.
It is the first arms shipment to Israel to be revealed since the administration put another arms transfer, consisting of 3,500 bombs, on hold this month.
Photo: AFP
The Biden administration, citing concern for civilian casualties in Gaza, has said it paused that bomb transfer to keep Israel from using the munitions in its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The package disclosed on Tuesday includes about US$700 million for tank ammunition, US$500 million in tactical vehicles and US$60 million in mortar rounds, the congressional aides said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public.
Two congressional aides said that the shipment is not part of the long-delayed foreign aid package that the US Congress passed and Biden signed last month.
It was 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 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 civilians.
Republican lawmakers said that any lessening of US support for Israel — its closest ally in the Middle East — weakens Jerusalem as it fights Hamas and other Iran-backed groups.
The US House of Representatives plans to advance a bill this week to mandate the delivery of offensive weaponry for Israel.
Despite the onetime suspension of a bomb shipment, Biden and administration officials have made clear that they will continue other weapons deliveries and overall military support to Israel, which is the largest recipient of US military aid.
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,”
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
“For him, this is very straightforward: He’s going to continue to provide Israel with all of 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,” Kirby added.
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