Posted by Biden administration approved more bombs to Israel on day of Gaza aid convoy strike – report
The US authorized the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza, the Washington Post reported, citing multiple officials.
The state department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500lb bombs, more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs, and fuses for MK80 bombs to Israel, it said. The transfer authorization was also reported by CNN.
According to the Post, a state department confirmed the approval and said it occurred sometime “prior” to when the Israeli aircraft struck the aid convoy. A day after the attack, Joe Biden released a statement that he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the aid workers, which included a US-Canada dual citizen.
Last week, the US reportedly authorized the transfer of similar weaponry worth billions of dollars to Israel, including more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs and 500 MK-82 500lb bombs.
Washington gives $3.8bn in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally. The latest transfers came from authorizations granted by Congress several years before the Israel-Gaza war began in October, but the US government has the authority to suspend an arms package any time before delivery.
Asked why the Biden administration did not pause the process after the Israeli drone attack on the WCK humanitarian aid convoy, the state department spokesperson did not comment, the Post wrote.
Key events
Julian Borger
Administration officials have faced questions almost daily as to why Joe Biden has not restricted or conditioned military aid on a change of Israeli behavior in Gaza.
The stock response has been that the Biden administration, while urging Israel to do more to protect the civilians of Gaza, should do nothing to limit Israel’s ability to defend itself, a touchstone of US foreign policy for more than half a century.
Democrats of all hues, whether they support the current policy or not, say that a change of course by the Biden administration on arms supplies is highly unlikely, for both policy and political reasons.
“He is not going to do it. He fundamentally believes Israel has a right to defend itself, and he believes that in his heart,” said a former senior Biden administration official of the president, adding: “There is zero probability in my view.”
Biden’s personal sense of commitment to Israel, cemented over decades of close contact with Israeli leaders, is a large part of the reason his administration is so resistant to change.
The reported approval last week of billions of dollars worth of US bombs and planes for Israel, as well as the reported transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers, comes amid growing questions as to why continued US military aid is not being made conditional on a change of Israeli behavior to limit the civilian death toll and significantly expand aid delivery.
Among the weapons that were reportedly approved last week to Israel were 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs, which can flatten an apartment block and leave an 11-metre deep crater. It is a devastating weapon that has reportedly been used frequently by the Israeli air force, playing a significant role in the estimated 33,000 death toll in Gaza since October.
The news that the nearly $4bn a year arms pipeline from the US to Israel remained in full uninterrupted flow drew a furious reaction from critics, who pointed to the irony of the Biden administration urging a ceasefire and the delivery of food aid into Gaza while supplying the weapons that fuel both the war and the humanitarian crisis.
José Andrés, the celebrity chef and founder of the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK), has condemned Israeli airstrikes that killed seven of his aid workers in Gaza and called for an investigation of the incident by the US government.
Spanish-born Andrés, now a US citizen, in an interview yesterday said the Israeli attack had targeted his workers taking food shipments from a warehouse in Deir al-Balah “systematically, car by car”.
He said the WCK had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements.
“This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” he said, rejecting Israeli and US assertions that the strike was not deliberate. He said:
They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. They knowing that it was our teams moving on that road … with three cars.
Biden administration approved more bombs to Israel on day of Gaza aid convoy strike – report
The US authorized the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza, the Washington Post reported, citing multiple officials.
The state department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500lb bombs, more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs, and fuses for MK80 bombs to Israel, it said. The transfer authorization was also reported by CNN.
According to the Post, a state department confirmed the approval and said it occurred sometime “prior” to when the Israeli aircraft struck the aid convoy. A day after the attack, Joe Biden released a statement that he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the aid workers, which included a US-Canada dual citizen.
Last week, the US reportedly authorized the transfer of similar weaponry worth billions of dollars to Israel, including more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs and 500 MK-82 500lb bombs.
Washington gives $3.8bn in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally. The latest transfers came from authorizations granted by Congress several years before the Israel-Gaza war began in October, but the US government has the authority to suspend an arms package any time before delivery.
Asked why the Biden administration did not pause the process after the Israeli drone attack on the WCK humanitarian aid convoy, the state department spokesperson did not comment, the Post wrote.
During the 90-minute meeting last Tuesday, defense secretary Lloyd Austin pressed his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to ensure that any Israeli military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah would prioritize the protection of civilians and secure the delivery of aid, according to a Pentagon official.
Speaking after his meeting with Gallant, which also included the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen CQ Brown, Austin said it was a moral and strategic imperative to protect Palestinian civilians, but there was nothing to suggest that he sought to condition future US military aid to Israel on an improvement of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The meeting at the Pentagon came a day after Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, abruptly canceled a high-level visit to Washington over the US abstention in a UN security council vote to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.
Austin expressed ‘outrage’ over Gaza aid convoy strike in call with Israel
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, in a phone call yesterday in which he expressed his “outrage” over the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on Monday that killed seven aid workers trying to deliver much-needed food to Gaza.
A readout of the call, published last night by the Pentagon’s press secretary, Maj Gen Patrick Ryder, states:
Secretary Austin expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including an American citizen. Secretary Austin stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups.
Austin also urged Gallant to conduct a “swift and transparent investigation, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account”, it said.
Austin’s comments on Wednesday marked a significant change in tone from previous calls between the US and Israeli defense ministers, and comes after the pair held talks last week in Washington in what the Pentagon later described as a frank and direct discussion.
Joe Biden, in a statement after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) drone attack on Monday that killed seven people working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, said Israel was not doing enough to protect aid workers and called for a swift investigation into the strike.
In comments that were highly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, Biden said:
This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.
He said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the aid workers’ deaths and highlighted that this was not a standalone incident.
This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians … Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians.
Among those killed in the attack was Jacob Flickinger, a US-Canada dual citizen working for WCK, as well as three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and a Palestinian.
Biden and Netanyahu to speak for first time since Gaza aid convoy attack
Good morning US politics readers. Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are expected to hold their first call since Israeli airstrikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday.
Biden, in a statement the following day, said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian workers, who included an American-Canadian dual citizen, and is fully prepared to make his feelings clear to Netanyahu in their conversation today, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official. The president “is pissed. The temperature regarding Bibi is very high,” an official told Axios.
Biden’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, where authorities say more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, has grown over recent weeks and his frustration with Netanyahu has become increasingly visible. The president has faced increasing pressure over his handling of the war, including from the first lady, Jill Biden, who reportedly pleaded with her husband to “stop it, stop it now”. Meanwhile, defense secretary Lloyd Austin “expressed his outrage” at the aid convoy strike in a call on Wednesday with his counterpart, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, according to the Pentagon.
The Biden administration, however, has continued to affirm its support of Israel in the wake of the Israeli drone strike, and Biden has shown no signs of trying to restrict or withhold US military aid to Israel. Just this week it was reported that the administration is close to approving a major new weapons sale to Israel worth more than $18bn that will include up to 50 US-made F-15 fighter jets.
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