Israel’s first two F-35 stealth fighter jets on their maiden flight as part of the Israeli Air Force on December 13, 2016. (Israel Defense Forces)
The United States in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel in secret, The Washington Post reported on March 29.
Citing Pentagon and State Department officials, the American daily said the new military aid package includes 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK-82 500-pound bombs, along with 25 F-35 stealth fighter jets that were initially approved as part of a larger package by Congress in 2008.
Israel requested the third squadron of 25 F-35s in July of last year, which when delivered will bring the total size of its fleet to 75.
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” a White House official tells The Washington Post. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.”
Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel. The administration of President Joe Biden increased military support to Israel after the outbreak with the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip last October, despite facing much criticism from within the U.S. and abroad.
The Israeli war on Gaza has so far claimed the lives of 32,623 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left more than 75,092 others wounded.
In addition, the Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the Strip’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
U.S. attempts to drop aid from the air have changed nothing in Gaza and its plan to deliver aid via a sea port, which is literally being built on the ruins of Palestinians homes, will not likely do any better.
The Biden administration approved the new military aid package even as it publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in the southern Gaza area of Rafah, where more than 1,5 million Palestinains have been taking shelter.
Despite the dire humanitarian situation in the Strip and the high possibility of Israel committing a massacre in Rafah, the U.S. support for the war appears to be as strong as ever. In fact, it may be safe now to say that the U.S. is now a full-on partner in the Israeli war.
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