Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley signs an Israeli artillery shell while touring the occupied territories on May 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Washington, July 11 (RHC)-- The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is set to resume shipping heavy bombs to the Israeli regime in defiance of international calls against the move, in line with Washington’s untrammeled support for the occupying entity in its months-long genocidal war on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, a US official said Washington would resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel. The official added, however, that the U.S. would continue to hold back on supplying 2,000-pound bombs over what he claimed to be “concerns” about their use in the densely populated city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
“We’ve been clear that our concern has been on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs, particularly for Israel’s Rafah campaign which they have announced they are concluding,” the official said.
“Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000 lb bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza ... because our concern was not about the 500 lb bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process,” the official added.
The U.S. media also confirmed that the shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel is getting underway.
The bombs “are in the process of being shipped” after a two-month pause and are expected to arrive in Israel in the “coming weeks,” The Wall Street Journal reported, 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 a planned shipment to Israel of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs amid concerns about Israel’s plans for a possible ground assault on Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
The United Nations, meanwhile, says about 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced since October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Washington in June for “withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel” in recent months, adding that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had assured him that restrictions would be lifted on arms transfers to Israel.
During his latest visit to Washington, Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant said there had been significant progress on the issue of U.S. munitions supply to Israel, adding that “obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed.”
The U.S. has historically provided enormous amounts of military aid for Israel. This has accelerated since the start of the regime's barbaric aggression on Gaza in October last year.
In defiance of international condemnation, the regime has flouted a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as its genocidal war on the besieged Palestinian territory lingers on for the 10th month.
Israel unleashed its bloody Gaza offensive on October 7, 2023 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 38,295 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, and injured 88,241 others.
