FALCON POWERS – The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has confirmed the temporary suspension of shipments of heavy ammunition to Israel due to disagreements and controversy with Tel Aviv over the invasion of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Lloyd Austin stated, “We have made it clear from the beginning that Israel should not launch a major attack on Rafah without considering and protecting civilians in that battlefield area once again. While we assess the situation, we have suspended one shipment of heavy ammunition.”
He added that Washington opposes this Israeli military operation but mentioned that no final decision has been made regarding how to proceed with the ammunition supply.
The White House does not consider the military operation in Rafah a “red line.” John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, announced that Israel informed the United States that the operation was limited.
According to the British newspaper “The Telegraph,” the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to halt arms sales to Israel due to its handling of the war in the besieged Gaza Strip. Critics argue that Israel’s actions violate U.S. laws that prohibit military aid and arms sales to countries.
The United States is the largest supplier of weapons to the occupying entity, covering 69% of Israel’s imports of major conventional weapons between 2019 and 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Israel receives $3.8 billion in annual military aid from the United States under a 10-year agreement aimed at providing the occupying entity with “qualitative military edge” over neighboring countries.
Israel has utilized these grants to fund orders for U.S. “F-35” aircraft, making it the first to acquire and use these advanced fighter jets in combat after the United States.
In this context, the magazine “Responsible Statecraft,” affiliated with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, suggested in March that much of the U.S. weaponry used in the aggression on the Gaza Strip was pre-existing within the occupied Palestinian territories before the assault.
The magazine noted that unlike other countries, “Israel possesses a stockpile of U.S. weapons on its territory” within American facilities operated by U.S. soldiers and governed by U.S. law, granting Israel privileged access to these weapons.
