Biden administration plans $1bn arms shipment to Israel

[Pelican Press 0]

Biden administration plans $1bn arms shipment to *******

The White House has informed Congress it wants to send more than $1bn (£800m) in weapons to *******, officials say.

The package would include tank rounds, mortars and armoured tactical vehicles, according to Reuters news agency.

The plan – confirmed by a congressional aide to CBS, the BBC’s US partner – must still be approved by lawmakers.

Last week President Joe Biden said he would halt weapons shipments to ******* if it launched a major invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah.

On Tuesday, ******** tanks advanced deeper into residential areas of south-eastern Rafah, Palestinians told Reuters.

Mr Biden said last week that he had delayed the shipment of 2,000lb (900kg) ****** to ******* because of how they might be used in such a ground operation.

Asked by CNN about the delay, Mr Biden said: “Civilians have been ******* in Gaza as a consequence of those ******.”

The package being sent to Congress is the first since Mr Biden’s administration paused arms transfers to ******* last week. It would include $700m in tank ammunition, $500m in tactical vehicles and $60m in mortar rounds, according to the Associated Press news agency.

On Friday, a US state department report found that some *********-made weapons provided to *******

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.

While the report was a clear rebuke of some ******** operations in Gaza, it stopped short of definitively saying that the ******* Defense Forces (IDF) campaign had breached international law.

It added that assurances it had received from ******* about adhering to the legal use of US weapons were “credible and reliable”.

Last month, Congress passed a bill providing $95bn in aid to *******, Ukraine and Taiwan.

Weapons transfers to ******* have become a political liability for Mr Biden ahead of this November’s 2024 White House election.

News of the latest arms package emerged soon after voting ended in a presidential primary election in Maryland, where activists had urged voters to register a protest ballot against what they see as Mr Biden’s favouritism towards ******* over the Gaza war.

*********** lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation intended to prevent any further pauses in weapons shipments to the US ally.

The House of Representatives this week will vote on a measure that requires the state department and defence department to ensure the “prompt delivery” of military equipment.

The White House has vowed to veto the bill, if it manages to pass the Senate, which is unlikely.

******* launched a military campaign to ******** ****** in response to the group’s cross-border ******* on southern ******* on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were ******* and 252 others were taken ********.

More than 35,170 people have been ******* in Gaza since then, including 82 in the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s ******-run health ministry.

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