The Biden administration has approved the transfer of billions of dollars of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, despite concerns in Washington about a possible military operation in southern Gaza.
The weapons package included more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
A State Department official told FOX News Digital, “Implementing authorization with one notification to Congress could result in dozens of separate foreign military sales incidents over the decades-long lifecycle of the Congressional notification.” “There is,” he said.
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Israeli soldiers fire a mortar into the Gaza Strip from southern Israel at a position near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. One of Hamas’s top leaders was killed in an attack in Beirut. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
“The reality is that large acquisitions, such as Israel’s F-35 program, are often split into multiple cases over many years,” the official added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Department of Defense.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that Israel has not received all the weapons it requested as fighting with Hamas intensifies.
“We have supported them with our capabilities, but we haven’t gotten everything they asked for,” he said. “Part of the reason for that is because they asked for something that we don’t have the ability or desire to provide. That’s not the case at this point.”
News of the military aid to Israel comes as the Biden administration expresses concern over Israel’s management of the war, which has left thousands dead and many residents displaced in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. .
Critics accuse Biden of abandoning Israel, holding hostage as tensions with Jewish state rise
A photo taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip from Israeli artillery fire on January 22, as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas. . (AFP via Getty Images)
“We continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” a White House official told the Post. “Adjustment assistance is not our policy.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to withhold aid unless there is a commitment from Israel to take steps to limit civilian casualties in Rafat, a Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza.
The issue caused a rift in relations between the United States and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his delegation’s visit to Washington this week following the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
The resolution did not condemn Hamas.
Meanwhile, progressives angry about Biden’s support for Israel are expressing their displeasure with him at every opportunity. Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Radio City Music Hall during a multi-million dollar fundraiser in New York City on Thursday, calling for an end to aid to Israel.
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Several protesters disrupted the festivities inside the venue.
