Commercial presentation Update: 05/09/2024 11:46
Issued by: 05/09/2024, 02:04
Washington – According to US President Joe Biden, Israel used bombs supplied by the United States to attack Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. According to the AP and Reuters agencies, Biden said this in an interview with CNN on Wednesday (early this morning).
In recent days, according to the media, the US administration has suspended the delivery of bombs, roughly half of which are powerful bombs weighing around one ton. According to Biden, the US will not supply Israel with more bombs or artillery ammunition, which Israel has used in the Gaza Strip in recent months, if his government decides to expand the invasion to the densely populated city of Rafah in the south of the area, where Israel says the last major groups of Hamas are hiding. In that case, according to Biden, the US would only supply defensive ammunition, for example to Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
“I have clearly said that if they enter Rafah – they haven’t yet – I will not supply weapons that have been used in Rafah in the past, that have been used in cities,” CNN quoted the US president as saying.
The agencies note that today’s Biden’s statements are the strongest expression of disapproval of Israel’s way of conducting the war against the Palestinian movement Hamas since the beginning of the current war in the Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip since last October, when Hamas committed bloody terrorist attacks in southern Israel and ignited the conflict, 34,844 Palestinians have died as a result of the fighting. This is according to data from the health authorities in Gaza on Wednesday; the numbers include Hamas fighters as well as civilians, who are the majority.
The now-suspended supply of US ammunition, according to an unnamed Reuters source, includes 1,800 bombs weighing 900 kilograms and 1,700 bombs weighing 225 kilograms. The first mentioned, heavier bombs are, according to an investigation by The New York Times (NYT) from the end of last year, one of the “most destructive” conventional weapons in the arsenals of Western armies. In at least the first six weeks of operations in the Gaza Strip, Israel regularly used them in populated areas, including those it had previously designated as safe for Palestinian civilians, according to the NYT.
“Civilians in Gaza have been dying as a result of (the explosions of) these bombs and other means that (the Israelis) are using in populated areas,” Biden said; according to CNN, he referred to the 900-kilogram bombs in question.
“We are currently reassessing some security assistance deliveries in the short term in the context of what is happening in Rafah,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Behind the scenes, Israeli officials expressed strong indignation to the Americans at their move, US media reported, citing their sources. They express concern that the reduction of military support will jeopardize the negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza. In public statements, the Israelis downplayed the news of the halted delivery of bombs.
Republican congressmen expressed their disapproval of the move by the Democratic President Biden’s administration. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sent a letter to Biden criticizing the delivery suspension. They say the move raises the question of whether the president’s commitment to Israel’s security really is as bulletproof as Biden has previously claimed.
Israeli politicians criticize Biden for suspending ammunition supplies
Israeli ministers and opposition politicians reacted this morning to the US administration’s decision to suspend the supply of ammunition. Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Kac said Israel would continue the fight, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said US President Joe Biden’s move would curry favor with Hamas. The statement is criticized by the opposition, which blames the government for the current situation, and President Yitzchak Herzog has called on politicians to avoid harmful comments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet commented on the US actions.
“Israel will continue to fight against Hamas until it is destroyed. No war has a greater justification than this,” the head of Israeli diplomacy, Kac, said on the X network this morning.
“Hamas loves Biden,” Minister Ben Gvir wrote on the same platform. His colleague from the far-right Jewish Power party and minister Amichai Eliyahu compared the American president to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who concluded an agreement in Munich in 1938 to cede part of the Czechoslovak border with the German minority to the Nazi Third Reich. Far-right Finance Minister Becalel Smotrič then stated that Israel was facing pressure from abroad to surrender. According to him, Israel must continue to fight against Hamas, which also means the full conquest of Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet responded to the US move. However, on his X Network account, he reposted his speech from last week, in which he claims, among other things, that international pressure will not stop Israel from defending itself. “If Israel is to stand alone, it will stand alone,” Netanyahu said at the time. Israeli media consider the post a response to Biden’s stance.
Opposition leader Jair Lapid sees the suspension of the supply of ammunition as a failure of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government. According to Lapid, the prime minister could have offended the Americans with some of his speeches. “Netanyahu is dangerous for Israel,” said Merav Michaeliová, head of the opposition Labor Party. Lapid also called for the impeachment of Ben Gvir for his statement against the US president.
Israeli President Herzog today called on Israeli politicians to avoid “baseless, irresponsible and insulting” statements that may harm Israel’s security interests. According to the server of the Haaretz newspaper, the president indirectly reacted to the statement of the Minister of National Security.
In recent days, the US administration has suspended the delivery of bombs, roughly half of which are powerful bombs weighing around one ton. Biden told CNN that Israel used US-supplied bombs in attacks that killed Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. According to Biden, the US will not supply Israel with additional bombs or artillery ammunition, which Israel has used in the Gaza Strip in recent months, if his government decides to expand the invasion to the densely populated city of Rafah in the south of the area. In that case, according to Biden, the US would only supply defensive ammunition, for example to Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
“It’s a very tough statement that’s hard to listen to and a disappointment from a president that we’ve been grateful to since the beginning of the war,” Ambassador Erdan told Israel Public Radio of Biden’s stance. “It’s very clear that any pressure on Israel, any restrictions, imposed on him, even by close allies who look after our interests, our enemies interpret and give them hope,” he added.
According to press agencies, Biden’s words are the strongest expression of disapproval of Israel’s way of conducting the war against the Palestinian movement Hamas since the beginning of the current war in the Gaza Strip.
The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by a terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7 last year, in which 1,200 people died and 250 were taken hostage. The ensuing massive Israeli bombing and ground operations have claimed more than 34,800 Palestinian lives since October, according to Hamas-controlled authorities.
USA Palestine Israel weapons fight diplomacy Biden PHOTO VERSION 2
