- Written by Yolande Nel
- BBC News, Jerusalem
Israel insisted it would attack Rafah, ignoring international concerns that it would cause untold suffering to large numbers of people.
Despite a week of tensions with Israel over the conduct of the Gaza war, Washington has reportedly approved billions of dollars worth of arms transfers to the ally.
These included more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound (900 kg) bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, as well as 25 F35A fighter jets, according to the Washington Post and Reuters.
Large bombs had previously been linked to airstrikes in Gaza, which were believed to have caused mass casualties.
Washington gives Israel $3.8bn (£3bn) a year in military aid.
But the move comes as the Biden administration is increasingly concerned about rising civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip and humanitarian access to the area, which the United Nations says is on the brink of famine. Ta.
The administration also said it was “unsupportable” of a large-scale Israeli ground offensive expected in Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where more than 1 million people are displaced.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah criticized the US position for being inconsistent.
“It's demanding,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to stop killing and arming civilians is an unprecedented principled and moral contradiction. ”
New talks are underway on the release of Israeli hostages and ceasefire with Hamas
News of the arms transfers came on the same day that President Joe Biden spoke about “the trajectory of the war in Gaza that is felt by so many in the Arab American community.”
The arms transfer has also been strongly criticized by some leaders of the president's Democratic Party, who have called for U.S. military aid to be limited or made conditional on changes to how Israel conducts military operations.
The US State Department told the BBC that it could not confirm potential or pending US arms transfers until Congress was formally notified.
The Washington Post, citing Pentagon and State Department officials, said the additional fighter jets to be sent to Israel were originally approved by Congress as part of a larger package in 2008, and were initially approved by Congress in 2008 as part of a larger plan for the deadly attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. The report said the request was made last year prior to the attack. It sparked the Gaza war.
When Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Washington last week, he is said to have drawn up a long list of American weapons that his country would like to quickly receive.
During the war, Israel, although a major arms exporter, has relied heavily on American air defenses and munitions.
Tens of thousands of bombs have been dropped on Gaza, and military experts say the airstrikes are among the heaviest and most destructive in recent history.
Late last year, analysis of satellite images of bomb craters led major U.S. news organizations to conclude that Israel routinely used its largest 2,000-pound (900 kg) bombs.
The New York Times cited an explosives expert who said bombs of that size had been used by several Western militaries, but the U.S. military no longer dropped them on populated areas.
Mr. Gallant, who met with senior U.S. officials, stressed the need to maintain his country's military supremacy in the Middle East and prepare for a possible escalation of fighting with the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
He also sought to defuse tensions with his country's most important ally, which had sunk to its lowest point in the Gaza war after the United States abstained from Monday's crucial UN Security Council vote.
Aid worker in Gaza: People are 'desperate and eating whatever they can get'
Following the vote, White House Press Secretary John Kirby rejected claims that the United States had changed its position and denied it was ready to begin providing conditional aid to Israel.
“This is not about trying to use some kind of power relationship against Israel, which is a good friend and ally of ours. It's about helping them protect themselves,” he told reporters. Told.
“We still have Israel's support. As you and I speak, we still have the tools to help Israel protect itself from what we agree is still a viable threat.” , capabilities and weapons systems.” [from] Hamas. ”
There are signs that relations between Israel and the US are easing after new arms transfers were reportedly given the green light.
A high-level Israeli delegation is currently scheduled to visit Washington to discuss alternatives to operations against Hamas in Rafah.
The visit had previously been canceled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution.
In another move likely to be welcomed by the United States, Israel also agreed to send senior intelligence officials to Egypt and Qatar for new talks on releasing the hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. did.
