THE administration of US President Joe Biden plans to resume shipping heavy bombs to Israel, defying international appeals against this action, as part of Washington’s unwavering support for the Israeli regime, amid its ongoing conflict with Palestinians in Gaza.
An anonymous US official disclosed on Wednesday that Washington would resume sending 500-pound bombs to Israel.
However, the US will continue to withhold 2,000-pound bombs due to ‘concerns’ about their use in densely populated areas like Rafah in southern Gaza.
‘We’ve been clear that our concern has been on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs, particularly for Israel’s Rafah campaign which they have announced they are concluding,’ the official stated.
‘Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza … because our concern was not about the 500-pound bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process,’ he added.
US media has confirmed that the shipment of 500-pound bombs is currently underway. The bombs ‘are in the process of being shipped’ after a two-month halt and are expected to arrive in Israel in the ‘coming weeks,’ reported
The Wall Street Journal, citing an administration official. ‘Heavier 2,000-pound bombs that were meant to be part of the same shipment are still on hold.’
In May, the Biden administration paused the planned shipment of both 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs amid concerns over Israel’s possible ground assault on Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
The United Nations reports that about 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced since October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Washington in June for ‘withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel’ in recent months, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him that restrictions on arms transfers would be lifted.
During his latest visit to Washington, Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant mentioned significant progress on the issue of US munitions supply to Israel, stating that ‘obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed’.
Despite international condemnation, Israel has ignored a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the conflict continues into its tenth month.
