The administration of United States (US) President Joe Biden has quietly approved and deliveree more than 100 sales of weapons to Israel since the beginning of its devastating war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, The Washington Post reported.
The sales included thousands of precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid.
This comes despite the Biden administration publicly criticizing Israel for not adequately protecting civilians during its war on Gaza, which has resulted in more than 30,800 deaths.
The report states that only two foreign military sales to Israel have been publicly disclosed since the conflict began, largely due to the Biden administration’s use of emergency authority.
However, the executive branch processed 100 other weapon transfers without public debate due to specific dollar amounts that necessitate individual notification to Congress.
Commenting on this, former senior official in the Biden administration, Jeremy Konyndyk, said, “This is an unusual number of sales over a very short period of time, which strongly indicates that the Israeli campaign would not have been sustainable without this level of American support.”
“We cannot transfer this level of armament in such a short period of time and act as if we are not directly involved,” he added.
On October 7, Israel launched the war on Gaza following a surprise retaliatory attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Since then, US has provided over 10,000 tons of military equipment to Israel and used its veto power against UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli forces have killed more than 30,800 Palestinians thus far, primarily women and children and 72,298 people injured.
