Approval comes despite US promise to renew efforts on long-elusive Gaza ceasefire after Israel-Hezbollah truce
\n Gaza City
\nThe administration of United States President Joe Biden is reported to have provisionally approved a $680m arms package to Israel, even as it asserts that it is pushing for peace in the Middle East.
\nReports of the arms deal on Wednesday come a day after Biden announced a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and promised to renew efforts to reach a similar agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza \u2013 one he has repeatedly promised but failed to deliver.
\nThe arms package had been in the works for months and had been previewed by congressional committees in September and submitted for wider review in October, an unnamed US official told the Reuters news agency, which confirmed an earlier report by the Financial Times on Biden\u2019s provisional approval.
\nThe latest delivery will include hundreds of small-diameter bombs and thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAMs), both news organisations reported. JDAMs convert \u201cdumb\u201d bombs into precision-guided weapons.
\nThe Biden administration has not confirmed the reports, the timing of which highlights the juxtaposition of the US position on the Middle East conflict \u2013 on the one hand facilitating ceasefire negotiations while on the other hand selling billions of dollars of munitions to Israel as it kills tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese.
\nOn Tuesday, Biden \u2013 who has consistently supported Israel and portrays US arms sales to Israel as essential support for an ally \u2013 held an address at the White House announcing that a US-brokered ceasefire that would see Israel withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days had been reached. That deal went into effect early on Wednesday.
\nDuring the address, Biden promised to again seek an end to the fighting that has raged in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
\nFor months, previous attempts by Washington to broker a deal have come up short with critics accusing Washington of failing to exert its most meaningful leverage \u2013 withholding some of the billions of dollars in arms it provides to Israel.
\nTo date, Israel has killed at least 44,282 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed at least 1,139 people. Israeli forces have killed more than 3,800 people in Lebanon in the past 13 months.
\n\u201cOver the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and the end to the war without Hamas in power \u2013 that it becomes possible,\u201d Biden said.
\nQuestions over weapons
\nThe latest weapons package would have been blocked as part of legislation introduced by several Democratic senators to stop about $20bn in arms sales to Israel, the Financial Times reported. However the effort, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, fell short of votes this month.
\nFor their part, US officials have repeatedly denied that delays in some arms transfers have been related to Israel\u2019s actions beyond a pause this year of a shipment of 900kg (2,000lb) bombs in a fruitless effort to prevent Israel from launching a major ground operation in Rafah.
\nSpeaking to reporters after Biden\u2019s speech, a US official denied that either withholding or promising more weapons to Israel was part of negotiations that eventually led to the Israel-Hezbollah agreement.
\nThe official said: \u201cNo part of this negotiation involved weapons on either side.\u201d
\nHowever, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday appeared to offer a contradictory account, saying the ceasefire with Hezbollah was needed to \u201creplenish stocks\u201d, among other reasons.
\n\u201cAnd I say it openly: It is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon,\u201d Netanyahu said during a national address without specifically naming the US.
\n\u201cWe will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission.\u201d
\nContinued support before Trump\u2019s return
\nAdvocates said the latest approval from the Biden administration indicates there will be little change in the president\u2019s policy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
\nIn a post on X, the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project said the move shows \u201cPresident Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, US law, and international law.\u201d
\nIt noted that the small-diameter bombs and JDAMs reportedly provided in the package have been linked to Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza.
\nThe Biden administration has also been one of the most vocal critics of the International Criminal Court\u2019s (ICC\u2019s) decision last week to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who Israel said it has killed.
\nIn a statement, Biden called the warrants against the Israeli officials \u201coutrageous\u201d and promised to \u201calways stand with Israel against threats to its security\u201d. Netanyahu\u2019s office on Tuesday said it would appeal the court\u2019s ruling.
\nTrump is expected to take a more provocative stance against the ICC \u2013 and in his overall support for Israel \u2013 after he takes office with his Republican Party in control of both the US House of Representatives and Senate after the November 5 elections.
\nTrump\u2019s pick for national security adviser, Representative Mike Walz, has already promised a \u201cstrong response\u201d to the ICC and the United Nations \u201ccome January\u201d.
\nRepublican Senator Lindsey Graham went further, promising during a trip to Israel on Wednesday to introduce legislation that \u201cwould sanction any country that tried to enforce the arrest warrant against Israel\u201d.
\n\u201cYou could be a close ally \u2013 Canada, Britain, France, you name it \u2013 [but] if you buy into this arrest warrant as legitimate, then you\u2019re going to meet stiff, bipartisan resistance in America,\u201d Graham said. \u201cSo, to the world, if you empower this folly at the ICC, then you will have a hard time doing business in America and coming to America.\u201d
\nNetanyahu\u2019s office confirmed that Graham had met with the Israeli leader during the trip.
\nThe prime minister\u2019s office said Graham \u201cupdated him on the efforts that he is advancing in the US Congress against the ICC and countries that have cooperated with it\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Approval comes despite US promise to renew efforts on long-elusive Gaza ceasefire after Israel-Hezbollah truce Gaza City The administration of United States President Joe Biden is reported to have provisionally approved a $680m arms package to Israel, even as it asserts that it is pushing for peace in the Middle East. Reports of the arms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n