Biden to send $1 billion more in weapons, ammo to 'Israel'
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Congressional aides told the AP that the $1 billion package will include about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds.
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies' 30th annual gala, on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
The Biden administration informed key lawmakers that will provide "Israel" with more than $1 billion in additional arms and ammunition, according to what three congressional aides told the Associated Press on May 14. However, it is still unclear when these weapons will be delivered.
The $1 billion package will include about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds, the congressional aides told AP on the condition of anonymity.
According to AP, it was not indicated when these arms will be delivered and it is unclear if this shipment was the latest part from an existing arms sale or if it is new. However, the two congressional aides said that it is not part of the long-delayed foreign aid package that Congress passed and US President Joe Biden signed in April.
The plans for the $1 billion weapons package to "Israel" were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Since Biden's administration put an arms transfer consisting of 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds each on hold this month, this is the first arms shipment to "Israel" to be revealed.
Read more: Biden admits 'Israel' killed Palestinian civilians using US bombs
US halted shipment of 3,500 bombs to 'Israel' amid Rafah invasion: ABC
Citing a senior US official, ABC News reported that a shipment of around 3,500 bombs meant for "Israel" was held up earlier this month by the US over concerns that they would be used in Rafah where more than one million civilians are sheltering "with nowhere else to go."
The official stated that among those transfers from the US to "Israel" are Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM kits, which came in the news confirmed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin publicly at a Senate hearing on May 8, noting that the Israeli invasion in Rafah could alter US aid to "Israel".
Speaking to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on May 8, Austin said, "We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah," stressing that the supplemental funding Congress passed is not affected.
"We've been very clear," he said, "from the very beginning that that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack on Rafah without accounting for and protecting those civilians that are hitting that battlespace. And, again as we have assessed the situation, we paused one shipment of high payload munitions."
Yet, Austin still maintained that the US-"Israel" alliance is "ironclad".
