Israel on Wednesday welcomed a U.S. aid package signed by President Biden that will send about $15 billion in military aid to Israel, increasing U.S. support for its closest ally in the Middle East despite tensions in their relationship on Israel’s continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip.
“Our alliance is ironclad,” said Israel Katz, the country’s foreign minister. A declaration thanking Mr. Biden for signing the legislation. It was part of a long-stalled $95.3 billion in aid package that had faced vehement opposition from some Republicans because of its support for Ukraine, which is also part of the legislation, all like Taiwan.
Aid to Israel includes more than $5 billion to replenish three of the country’s defense systems: An iron dome, which intercepts rockets flying in high arcs; David’s Sling, which shoots down drones, missiles and rockets; And iron beamdesigned to use laser beams to destroy incoming projectiles.
It also includes $1 billion to improve artillery and munitions production and development and $2.4 billion for U.S. military operations in the U.S. Central Command region, which includes the Middle East as well as parts of South Asia and East Africa.
At the White House on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said he was authorizing “vital support for Israel,” less than two weeks later Iran attacked the country with more than 300 missiles and drones, almost all shot down. Mr. Biden also noted that Israel was fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both of which are backed by Iran.
“Israel’s security is essential,” Mr. Biden said. “I will always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and the terrorists it supports. »
Aid bill signed as Israel continued planning invade the town of Rafah, south of Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge. The Biden administration has said it would oppose such an invasion without a workable plan to protect civilians.
The legislation also provides $1 billion in additional humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, including food, medical supplies and clean water, Mr. Biden said. “Israel must ensure that all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay,” he said.
Famine is already widespread in Gaza and the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, warned on Wednesday that a famine could begin in six weeks without a major increase in food deliveries.
“We are getting closer to a famine situation every day,” Gian Carlo Cirri, director of the World Food Program’s Geneva office, told reporters. “Malnutrition among children is spreading. »
About 30 percent of children under the age of 2 in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition, Mr. Cirri said. In northern Gaza, 70 percent of the population faces catastrophic levels of hunger, meaning they have exhausted almost all means of coping and are eating animal food or selling their belongings. to buy food, he explained.
“Most of them are destitute and some of them are starving,” he said.
Intense heat is worsening the suffering in Gaza, where many civilians were sweltering in makeshift tents under the blazing sun as temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius, or 102 degrees Fahrenheit, on Wednesday.
“It looks like the tent is on fire,” said Maryam Arafat, 23, who was sheltering with her husband and three young children in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. They had fled their home in Gaza City, which was under Israeli bombardment this winter. “It’s so hot you can’t stand it, especially with young children,” she said.
Ms. Arafat said she used a piece of cardboard to fan her children and moistened their heads and limbs with what little water she had. Hot weather, combined with a lack of clean water, has heightened concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases in Gaza.
Despite the humanitarian crisis, aid prevents funding for UNRWA, the main UN agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza. United States suspension of contributions to the agency this year, following Israeli allegations that a dozen agency employees participated in attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel on or after October 7. The United Nations is currently conducting an internal review of these allegations.
But an independent study commissioned by the United Nations reported this week that Israel had not provided evidence to support his accusation that many UNRWA employees were members of Hamas and other terrorist groups.
The commission recommended that UNRWA protect its neutrality by implementing additional screening and training of its staff members and working more closely with host countries and Israel to share lists of its employees.
Oren Marmorstein, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, denounced the study after its publication, calling it “an attempt to avoid the problem.”
But Germany, one of Israel’s close allies, said Wednesday it would resume funding UNRWA, about three months after its payments suspended. The announcement was likely to provoke added tension in its long-standing ties with Israelwhich deteriorated due to differences over the war in Gaza.
Germany gave more than $200 million to UNRWA in 2023 and is its second largest donor, after the United States. Several other countries, including Australia, Canada and Sweden, have also resumption of UNRWA funding.
The United States is by far the the largest arms supplier in Israel, and even though the Biden administration has facing growth calls to restrict or stop arms deliveries, it has largely maintained its military support.
The package signed by Mr. Biden places no conditions on military aid to Israel. It was a sticking point for some liberal Democrats who have increasingly criticized the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health authorities.
Asked Wednesday whether the Biden administration would end U.S. aid to an Israeli military unit accused of human rights abuses, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said it was for the State Department to decide and that the White House would not intervene.
The State Department weighs the action against the Israeli military battalion Netzah Yehuda, under an American law which prohibits U.S. equipment, funds, and training from going to foreign military units found guilty of gross human rights violations. The unit was investigated in Israel for crimes committed in the West Bank before the October 7 attacks.
The report was provided by Catie Edmondson, Robert Jimison, Raja Abdulrahim, Ameera Harouda And Bengali shashank.
