The $500 million deal is separate from a major aid package currently making its way through Congress, which would devote $14.3 billion in direct military assistance to Israel.
US President Joe Biden is quietly urging lawmakers to approve the sale of 45,000 tank shells to Israel, Reuters news agency reported, noting that the deal is facing scrutiny amid growing concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
Worth over $500 million, the potential sale would restock Israel’s arsenal of 120-millimeter shells, which are used by its Merkava main battle tank, four unnamed sources told the outlet on Friday. Congress must authorize the transfer before it proceeds, but some lawmakers remain skeptical.
UPDATE: The vote at the UNSC Council took place at 3:45 pm New York time, with 13 members in favor. The US voted against it, with the UK abstaining. Owing to the US veto, the resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was not therefore adopted.
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Reuters quoted Josh Paul, a former US State Department official who resigned in October to protest Washington’s “blind support” for Israel, as saying: “This went to committees earlier this week and they are supposed to have 20 days to review Israel cases. (The US State Department) is pushing them to clear (the sale) now.”
A current official confirmed Paul’s comments, observing that the State Department has pressed Congress to approve the massive sale, which is currently under “informal review” by the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees.
However, Biden is reportedly considering bypassing legislators to move ahead on a smaller sale of 13,000 tank shells, as emergency authorities under the Arms Export Control Act would allow him to skip the congressional review. No decision has yet been made on the matter, two US officials said.
"Tell me, name me one more nation that is doing as much as the United States to alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Gaza, you can’t“.
Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House.#nocomment #gaza #unitedstates pic.twitter.com/PBrspmiYEu
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Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged the White House to give lawmakers time to examine the sale, saying “The administration should not consider short-circuiting the already short time frame for congressional review of this or any other arms transfer.”
The $500 million deal is separate from a major aid package currently making its way through Congress, which would devote $14.3 billion in direct military assistance to Israel if passed in its current form.
Some of Biden’s allies in the Senate have grown critical of US support given the soaring casualties in Gaza, however, with independent Senator Bernie Sanders saying Washington should use its “substantial leverage” over its ally to limit the bloodshed.
The US remains Israel’s top military donor, and has already transferred around 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells to Israel since October, the Wall Street Journal reported.
AL-QASSAM BRIGADES: A leadership source in the Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed to Al-Jazeera that two Israeli special forces were ambushed in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and the Karama area in Gaza City.
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That aid is in addition to annual assistance already given to the country, which amounts to around $3.8 billion each year.
The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli war on Gaza since October 7 has reached 17,490, including 7,870 children and 6,121 women, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. 46,480 were wounded.
(RT, PC)
