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November 28, 2024 | 03:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Biden administration is pushing ahead with a $680 million arms sales package to Israel, a U.S. official familiar with the plan said on Wednesday, November 27, 2024.
The deal proceeded even as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has come into effect. The U.S. also said Israel is currently pushing for peace in the Middle East.
The news comes less than a day after the ceasefire agreement ended the deadliest confrontation in years between Israel and Hezbollah. Biden also promises to “make another push” to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
The package has been in the works for several months. It was first brought to the congressional committees in September, then submitted for review in October, the U.S. official said, as quoted from Reuters.
The package, which was first reported by the Financial Times, includes thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAMs) and hundreds of small-diameter bombs, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The package follows a $20 billion sale in August of fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel.
Reuters reported in June that Washington, Israel's biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
In remarks late on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listed the need to replenish weapons stocks as one of the reasons for the ceasefire. "And 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," he said.
The conversations about the sale had been going on even as a group of progressive U.S. senators, including Bernie Sanders, introduced resolutions to block the sale of some U.S. weapons to Israel over concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
The legislation was shot down last week in the Senate. It was likely the last chance to stop any weapons sales before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people has been displaced, and the enclave is at risk of famine, more than a year into Israel's offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Gaza health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.
On Tuesday, Biden gave a speech at the White House and announced that a U.S.-brokered ceasefire would lead Israel to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days.
The agreement took effect Wednesday morning. In his speech, Biden pledged to strive for the end of the conflict in Gaza that began on October 7, 2023. The ceasefire agreement paves the way for the end of the Israel-Lebanon border conflict that has claimed thousands of lives since a year ago.
REUTERS
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