The Israeli army reportedly told The Pentagon that shells were needed to prepare for a land invasion of Gaza.
The United States will send Israel tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that had been destined for Ukraine, the American news website Axios reported on Thursday.
The Israeli army reportedly told The Pentagon that the shells were needed to prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza.
The #Israeli war on #Gaza could drag on for years to come if Israeli occupation forces decided to launch a ground invasion, former #CIA chief David Petraeus warned in an interview with Politico on Thursday.https://t.co/lWLAJiXY3X pic.twitter.com/mYOIlstw4S
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2023
The US maintains a stockpile of ammunition at a facility in Israel, which only US forces have access to. Earlier this year, the US began taking shells from this facility and another stockpile in South Korea in order to meet Ukraine’s massive demand for ammunition.
Israeli officials told Axios that the US will now be refilling this stockpile with ammunition from its own stocks that had been earmarked for Ukraine, at the direct request of the Israeli government. The officials said that the shells will arrive in Israel in the coming weeks.
AXIOS: The American "Axios" newspaper quoted Israeli officials as saying that the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) is planning to send tens of thousands of artillery shells (intended for Ukraine) to Israel.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 19, 2023
According to Axios, US officials played down concerns about US military supplies to Ukraine. The website quoted Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, as telling reporters that the US “can support both Ukraine and Israel in terms of their defensive needs.”
Since the start of the latest Israeli war on Gaza, the Israeli army “has significantly increased its use of artillery — both in Gaza and in skirmishes with Hezbollah on the Lebanon border,” Axios wrote.
(PC, RT, Axios)
