Gaza War: Washington sends weapons to Israel despite global concern about the death toll

But the latest package comes as the Biden administration raises concerns about the rising civilian death toll in Gaza and humanitarian access to the Strip, which the United Nations says is on the brink of famine.

The US administration also said that it “cannot support” the expected large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Egyptian border, where there are more than a million displaced people.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah criticized the United States for the contradiction in its positions.

She said in a post on the X platform, previously Twitter: “Demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop killing civilians and supplying him with weapons is a contradiction in principles and an unprecedented moral contradiction.”

The arms transfers have come under heavy criticism from some senior members of the president’s Democratic Party, who have called for US military aid to be limited or conditional on how Israel conducts its military operations.

The US State Department told the BBC that it could not confirm the existence of potential or pending US arms transfers before formally notifying Congress.

The Washington Post quoted Pentagon and State Department officials as saying that the additional warplanes to be sent to Israel were initially approved as part of a larger package by Congress in 2008, and were requested last year, before the October 7 attacks by Hamas. against Israel and ignited the Gaza war.

When Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant went to Washington last week, he was said to have taken a long list of American weapons that his country wanted to obtain in a quick manner.

Tens of thousands of bombs were dropped on Gaza, and military experts say the air campaign was one of the most intense and destructive in modern history.

Late last year, analysis of bomb craters from satellite images led major US media outlets to conclude that Israel routinely used its largest bombs, weighing 2,000 pounds (900 kg).

The New York Times quoted explosives experts as saying that although many Western armies have used bombs of this size, American forces no longer drop them at all in densely populated areas.

In his meeting with senior American officials, Gallant stressed the need to maintain his country’s qualitative military superiority in the Middle East, and to prepare for a possible escalation in the fighting with Lebanese Hezbollah, the powerful armed group.

On Saturday, thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv again in support of the families of the hostages, who called for a massive demonstration in front of the Knesset headquarters in Jerusalem next week.

While it seemed that the indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel to reach a truce had reached a dead end, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reported on Friday, after his meeting with the heads of the Israeli intelligence Mossad and Shin Bet, that he “agreed to a round of negotiations in the coming days in Doha and Cairo.” ..to move forward.”

In recent months, several negotiating rounds were held through international mediators Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, but without results, while both parties exchanged accusations of obstructing them.

Since the beginning of the war, the two sides have reached a single, week-long truce at the end of November that allowed for the release of approximately 100 hostages held in Gaza during the October 7 attack, in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees and prisoners held by Israel.

The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza called for a mass demonstration in front of the Knesset headquarters next week.

The weekly demonstration was held in Tel Aviv Square, which activists renamed “Kidnapped Square,” while anti-government protesters also gathered near the Ministry of Defense.

Some carried signs holding Netanyahu responsible for the fate of the hostages, with pictures of his face reading, “You are the president, you are responsible.”

The Israeli police accused the anti-government demonstrators of “rioting” and said that the demonstration was illegal.

During the October 7 attack, about 250 hostages were held, Israel believes that 130 of them are still in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead.

Former hostage Raz Ben-Ami, who was released in November after an agreement brokered by Qatar and Washington, appealed to Netanyahu to speed up the talks in order to release the rest.

She said: “Prime Minister, on behalf of the hostage men and women, on behalf of the people of Israel, give the order to the negotiators in Qatar. Do not return without an agreement.”

One of the leaders of the Hostage Families Forum added: “I could not blink at the thoughts and fear of what the hostages are going through. After 176 days, the excuses are over.”