U.S. President Joe Biden recently paused the transfer of 3,500 bombs to Israel, a nation heavily involved in the conflict against Hamas in Gaza and against Hezbollah on its northern border against Hezbollah. Prompting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to say that the embattled nation will fight with fingernails if it has to. But, after 7 months of fighting in the built-up areas of Gaza, where most structures are no longer habitable, Israel is still going strong and now has set its sights on Rafah, a city which sits on the border with Egypt.
It is only after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) were poised to assault the Gazan city in search of the 133 hostages still in Hamas’ captivity that the Americans paused weapons supply to Israel. Although the Americans have halted the flow of weapons that it suspects would be used in Rafah, the U.S. government says that it will send each and every dollar’s worth of equipment sanctioned for Israel to the country.
Republican Senate Leader McConnell has asked the U.S. President to stand up to the radicals and take a stand for an ally over restricting weapons transfer to Israel. The White House has although clarified that Israel will continue to get weapons from the United States. The U.S. and Israel signed a 10-year MoU worth $38 Billion for military aid covering the period from 2018 on through to 2028. The U.S. has released millions of dollars for Israel to replenish missiles for its Iron Dome system.
Germany cleared defence equipment purchase by Israel worth $351 Million in 2023, a nearly 10-fold increase compared to the previous year. Deliveries this year have been a different issue as the German parliament revealed on April 10th that deliveries worth only Euros 32,449 have taken place this year. Between 2019-23 Germany provided nearly 30% of weapons aid to Israel.
Italian law prohibits the nation from exporting arms and ammunition to any nation waging war, but the nation has continued to send weapons to Israel, although Italy has made it clear that the weapons sent by it will not be used to target civilians in Gaza.
UK does not sell weapons to Israel directly but has not refused to block any of the components that are used in multiple American equipment used by the Israeli Defence Forces.
(With inputs from Reuters)
