Israel has welcomed the U.S. aid package signed by President Biden on Wednesday, which sends about $15 billion in military aid to Israel and sharpens relations between the two countries over Israel’s war effort in the Gaza Strip. Despite the tensions, US support for its closest Middle East ally is growing.
“Our alliance is ironclad,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said. statement He thanked Mr. Biden for signing the bill. It was part of a $95.3 billion package of aid that had been stalled for years after facing fierce opposition from some Republican lawmakers over aid to Ukraine, which, like Taiwan, is part of the bill.
Aid to Israel includes more than $5 billion to replenish the country’s three defense systems. David’s Sling shoots down drones, missiles, and rockets. and Iron Beam, which is designed to destroy incoming projectiles using a laser beam.
It also includes $1 billion to enhance production and development of artillery and ammunition, and $2.4 billion for U.S. military operations in the U.S. Central Command region, which includes the Middle East, South Asia and parts of East Africa.
On Wednesday, Biden at the White House approved “significant aid to Israel” less than two weeks after Iran attacked the country with more than 300 missiles and drones, nearly all of which were shot down. Then he said. Biden also noted that Israel is fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both of which are supported by Iran.
“Israel’s security is extremely important,” Biden said. “I will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to protect itself from Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists.”
The aid bill was signed as Israel continues its plans to invade the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge. The Biden administration has said it opposes such an invasion without a viable plan to protect civilians from harm.
Biden said the bill would also provide $1 billion in additional humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, including food, medicine and clean water. “Israel must ensure that all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay,” he said.
Severe hunger is already widespread in Gaza, and the United Nations agency World Food Program warned on Wednesday that starvation could begin in Gaza within six weeks unless food supplies are significantly expanded.
Gian Carlo Siri, director of the World Food Program’s Geneva office, told reporters: “Every day we move closer to a situation of starvation.” “Malnutrition among children is widespread.”
Shiri said around 30% of children under the age of two in Gaza are severely malnourished. In northern Gaza, 70% of the population faces catastrophic levels of hunger, which has exhausted nearly all means of coping, forcing them to eat animal feed and sell their belongings to buy food. He said that means that.
“Most of them are extremely poor and some are clearly dying of hunger,” he says.
The heatwave has exacerbated the suffering in Gaza, with temperatures reaching 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, leaving many civilians sweltering in makeshift tents under the scorching sun.
“It feels like the tent is on fire,” said Maryam Arafat, 23, who was evacuated with her husband and three young children in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. They had fled their homes in Gaza City, which had been bombarded by Israeli shelling in the winter. “It’s so hot that it’s probably unbearable, especially for young children,” she said.
Arafat said he used cardboard to fan the children and used what little water he had to moisten their heads and limbs. The combination of hot weather and lack of clean water has raised concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases in Gaza.
Despite the humanitarian crisis, this aid prevents funding to UNRWA, the UN’s main agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The United States suspended funding to the agency earlier this year, citing Israeli claims that more than a dozen of its employees took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel or its aftermath. The United Nations is conducting an internal investigation into the allegations.
However, an independent investigation commissioned by the United Nations reported this week that Israel has not provided evidence to support accusations that many UNRWA staff are members of Hamas or other terrorist organizations.
The committee recommended that UNRWA protect its neutrality by introducing additional testing and training of its staff and working more closely with host countries and Israel to share its staff roster.
After the review was published, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein denounced it as an “effort to avoid the issue.”
But Germany, one of Israel’s closest allies, announced on Wednesday that it would resume funding to UNRWA, nearly three months after it stopped. The announcement had the potential to further strain long-standing relations with Israel, which have soured over disagreements over the Gaza war.
Germany will contribute more than $200 million to UNRWA in 2023, making it the second largest donor after the United States. Several other countries, including Australia, Canada and Sweden, have also resumed funding to UNRWA.
The United States is by far Israel’s largest arms supplier, and the Biden administration has largely maintained military aid even as it faces growing calls to limit or halt arms shipments.
The package signed by Biden does not place any conditions on military aid to Israel. This was a sticking point for some liberal Democrats, who have become more vocal critics of Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,000 people have been killed, according to health officials. .
Asked Wednesday whether the Biden administration would cut off U.S. aid to Israeli military units accused of human rights abuses, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the issue was for the State Department to decide. , the White House said it would not intervene.
The State Department is considering action against the Israeli military battalion Netza Yehuda under a U.S. law that prohibits the passage of U.S. equipment, funding, and training to foreign military units found to have committed serious human rights violations. The unit is under investigation in Israel for crimes that occurred in the West Bank before the October 7 attack.
Report contributed by Catie Edmondson, Robert Jimison, Raja Abdulrahim, Ameera Harouda and Shashank Bengali.
