Tehran Times – President Joe Biden has approved the transfer of more bombs and fighter jets for Tel Aviv despite publicly voicing concern over the Israeli execution of its disastrous war on Gaza.
U.S. media reports have cited unnamed Pentagon and State Department officials, familiar with the matter, as saying the latest arms package would be worth more than $18 billion, making it the largest U.S. arms deal with Tel Aviv since the regime waged an air and ground assault against the civilian population in Gaza.
Despite voicing public concern over the trickle of aid entering Gaza and a possible Israeli invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.2 million Palestinians have sought shelter, Biden has been accused of hypocrisy by speeding up the delivery of more arms to the Israeli occupation forces.
In December, Biden acknowledged that the Israeli military had embarked on an “indiscriminate bombing” campaign in the enclave.
The Washington Post, which was among the first American news outlets to reveal the latest U.S. military package to the Israeli regime cited sources as saying it includes more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK-82 500-pound bombs.
The devastating 2,000-pound bombs, that are capable of flattening city blocks and leaving craters in the earth 40 feet across and larger, have been used extensively by the Israeli military in Gaza causing numerous massacres that have sparked global condemnation.
One massacre used by the indiscriminate munition was dropped on the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians, which UN officials condemned as a “disproportionate attack that could amount to war crimes”.
Unnamed sources told CNN that the U.S. is also edging closer to approving the sale of an estimated 50 U.S.-made F-15 fighter jets to the Israeli occupation forces.
The American broadcaster said that the Biden administration informally notified the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees of the F-15 sale in late January. Other reports suggest that the informal notification was made in February.
Concerns over a possible Israeli invasion in Rafah that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been shared by fellow Democrats in Biden’s party who fear it would further isolate Tel Aviv globally.
President Biden is under growing pressure domestically and internationally to use U.S. leverage over Israel and impose restrictions on U.S. military aid and sales. Experts say this will end the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
However, Biden appears to be undeterred on a very sensitive matter, stating one thing in public and taking opposite measures in private.
Critics have accused Biden of trying to appease public anger in America over his pro-Israeli position by making public statements in a way designed to show he has some sympathy for the Palestinians.
With the election in November, the incumbent President stands to lose a second term in office after hundreds of thousands of former Democrat voters took their anger out at the ballot boxes in key swing states during the primaries.
U.S. mainstream media reports of a rift emerging between Biden and the Israeli regime appear to be part of the same Biden campaign team strategy to secure a second term. Biden has clearly shown that any condition on arms shipments to the Israeli occupation forces is a red line for Washington.
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” a White House official claimed though it is Israel that has invaded Gaza and is extending starvation across the entire enclave. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy,” the White House official has been cited as saying.
In an interview, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said, “The Biden administration needs to use their leverage effectively and, in my view, they should receive these basic commitments before greenlighting more bombs for Gaza. We need to back up what we say with what we do,” Van Hollen added.
Speeding up the delivery of military packages was believed to have been at the top of the agenda during talks in Washington last week between the Israeli minister for war, Yoav Gallant, and U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Washington already provides almost $4 billion in annual military assistance to Tel Aviv. The money comes out of the pockets of American taxpayers.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved in arms transfers who resigned in protest of Biden’s Gaza policy, told U.S. media that “this is a policymaking process that is fundamentally broken, and which makes everyone from policymaking officials to defense manufacturers to the U.S. taxpayer complicit in Israel’s war crimes.”
The latest reports will pile further pressure on Biden by some U.S. allies as well as human rights groups and international aid agencies to call on the Israeli regime to halt its genocidal war on Gaza, where more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured, the majority of whom women and children.
The enclave’s population is also facing a catastrophic famine amid strict restrictions on aid entering the enclave.
The murder of six foreign nationals delivering food in Gaza this week on behalf of the World Central Kitchen (by three Israeli airstrikes) has forced the international food charity to pause its operations in Gaza with other aid agencies following suit, citing the deadly risk of operating in the Palestinian territory.
UN officials say civilians in Gaza are being starved to death. More U.S. weapons for Israeli forces will undoubtedly lead to more civilian deaths and starvation.
by Ali Karbalaei
