Two months ago, the Joe Biden Administration warned Israel of a red line in its billion-dollar arms support: the bombing of Rafah without “a credible plan” to “minimize the number of civilian casualties”. When he learned of the attack’s imminence last week, the president used his authority for the first time to interrupt the planned delivery of 3,500 bombs to Tel-Aviv, Axios reported on Sunday and sources confirmed yesterday from the White House to other American media.
Specifically, the retained cargo included 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (226-kilogram) bombs. A US official, who asked not to be identified, said the concern is mainly about the end use of the 1,800 heaviest bombs and “the impact they could have in dense urban environments, as we have seen in other parts of Gaza”. Israel has used such weaponry frequently during the seven-month conflict, helping to raise the death toll, which the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry estimates at more than 34,000 dead and 78,000 wounded. .
Beyond Washington’s warnings, which Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet has repeatedly disregarded, the brake on arms shipments is the Administration’s most effective instrument to influence Israel. However, the retention – not cancellation – of this specific package does not compromise the bulk of American aid: the Jewish State can continue to count on the annual military assistance of 3.8 billion dollars, approved at the beginning of the century in Congress, and with the aid of 26,000 million approved last month with large bipartisan majorities.
Israel has enough ammunition to proceed with its announced full-scale invasion of Rafah, where the armed forces have already begun their incursion and have closed the entry points for humanitarian aid from Israel and Egypt. But this military operation, which is being closely scrutinized by the White House, could mean a before and after in American support.
Joe Biden’s government is evaluating the possibility of also interrupting future supplies and plans to send a report to Congress this week on Israel’s use of American weapons. Biden committed to it in February, following pressure from the progressive sector of the Democrats, which aims to make military aid to Israel conditional on respect for international humanitarian law.
In fact, since the 1970s, US law has prohibited sending weapons to countries that “engage in a consistent pattern of serious violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
The report was scheduled for yesterday, but after the start of the shelling of Rafah and the entry of Israeli tanks into the southern city of Gaza, the State Department announced that it will come later, throughout this week. If the investigation finds that Israel has violated international law, it could imply a change in the arms delivery policy, which is also being questioned on college campuses across the country.
An independent Amnesty International report assessed last month that Israel is using US weapons “in serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, and in a manner inconsistent with US law and policy”. An exposed example is the bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp on October 9, which resulted in 39 casualties, two days after Hamas’ incursion into Israel. According to the UN human rights office, the situation in Rafah, where around one and a half million Palestinians are crowded, can fall under this definition. Its spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said on Tuesday that under international law, Israel must ensure that civilians have access to medical care, adequate food, clean water and sanitation. “Breach of these obligations can amount to forced displacement, which is a war crime”, he assured, “and there are strong indications that this offensive is being carried out in violation of international humanitarian law”.
“The Rafah border crossing, a vital humanitarian access point, has been completely closed until further notice. This will have a devastating impact,” said Aurelie Godard, MSF’s medical manager in Gaza. Israel stated yesterday morning that it had opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to humanitarian aid. However, in the afternoon, a Palestinian official at the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza denied that Israeli occupation authorities had allowed trucks in and claimed that six aid workers had been wounded by gunfire in the Al-Shoka area, east of. “No aid has arrived in Gaza today, from anywhere. Final point”, Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA spokesman, told Efe. The World Health Organization warned that there is only three days of fuel left for health services in Gaza. With the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings closed, the population is once again “under a total blockade”, the WHO said.
The revelation of the arms embargo stands in stark contrast to Biden’s speech Tuesday from the Capitol at the annual Holocaust memorial event, in which he pledged to continue supporting Israel despite its differences. “My commitment to the security of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish State is unwavering even when we disagree,” he said. An idea that, hours later, was reinforced by the Pentagon: “Our commitments to Israel’s security remain the same,” said the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, in a briefing.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said yesterday that he did not believe the US would stop supplying Israel with arms, but called Washington’s decision to delay some shipments “very disappointing”. In Israel, the top military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said coordination between Israel and the US is “unprecedented in scope” and played down the impact of the suspension of the bomb shipment, noting that allies resolve any disagreement “behind closed doors”.
