Biden Administration Proceeds with $1 Billion Arms Deal to Israel

Congress has been informed by the Biden administration about their plans to proceed with selling over $1 billion in new arms to Israel, as per three congressional aides knowledgeable about the deal. The deal includes new tactical vehicles and ammunition.

This notification is concurrent with President Biden’s decision tohalt a bomb shipment to Israel, aiming to prevent U.S.-made weapons from being used in a potential Gaza city invasion. Recently, Mr. Biden declared he wouldblock the delivery of weapons like bombs and missiles into densely populated areas where over a million Palestinians reside.

This arms transfer highlights the Biden administration’s careful trajectory with Israel, continuing to supply a key ally while striving to limit civilian casualties in Gaza. As mentioned by a congressional aide, the administration had been waiting for aforeign aid package with added aid for Israel to pass before proceeding with the necessary congressional notification procedure.

The State Department on inquiring about the arms package, reported initially by The Wall Street Journal, quoted Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, affirming the continuation of military assistance supply to Israel to defend itself against regional threats.

“The president has refused to provide certain offensive weaponry for such an operation, should it occur,” Sullivan commented. “It has not taken place yet. We are continually working with Israel to identify a better way to ensure Hamas’s defeat, including in Rafah.”

Currently, the administration is advocating a cease-fire deal in which Hamas would release some of the hostages taken on Oct. 7, when it attacked Israel and initiated the war. The Qatari prime minister shared that the talks are “almost at a standstill.”

President Biden first expressed support for Israel after the Oct. 7 attack, which resulted in approximately 1,200 casualties. However, he has begun to criticize its conduct of the war, which has led to over 34,000 deaths in Gaza according to local health authorities.

Despite threatening to withhold additional arms last week, Biden reassured that the U.S. would continue to supply arms to ensure its ally’s security, including the Iron Dome missile defence system and for responding to attacks such asIran’s in April.

Reporting contributed by Edward Wong.