On Wednesday, May 8, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin became the first senior US administration official to publicly confirm that the US government had unusually suspended arms shipments to Israel. Over the past seven months, the Israeli army has killed some 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with strong support from the United States.
Speaking at a Senate subcommittee hearing, Secretary Austin noted that the pause was taking place “in the context of events unfolding in Rafah,” the southern Gaza city where approximately 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than 600,000 children, are currently taking refuge. The majority of these people were forced to flee to Rafah from other areas of Gaza, in line with the Israeli modus operandi of turning Palestinians into refugees again and again.
And although Rafah has hardly been spared from the terror and massacres that have characterized the last seven months of Israeli operations in the coastal enclave as a whole, the threat of a large-scale attack against a mass of civilians trapped in the city has made even the world’s superpower – Israel’s devoted best friend – a little tricky.
To that end, reports began to emerge over the weekend that Joe Biden’s administration had committed to suspending the shipment to Israel of munitions that could be used in an offensive on Rafah. The cargo would consist of 3,500 bombs, including 1,800 in the 2,000-pound (907 kg) category and 1,700 in the 500-pound (227 kg) category.
Certain other arms transfers to Israel are also reportedly under consideration.
Of course, given that the United States has been actively supporting the genocide and famine in Gaza for over six months with all kinds of munitions and money, it is not clear why the Rafah case should suddenly cause such concern. imperial. But hey, it’s potentially good PR.
Before Secretary of State Austin’s remarks Wednesday, U.S. officials had been noncommittal about reports of a suspension of arms shipments. For example, during a May 6 press briefing, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby flatly refused to confirm whether or not the information was accurate, instead announcing, “Whatever I can tell you is that… our support for Israel’s security remains unwavering. And I’m not going to go into detail about one expedition over another.
Indeed, it seems that “ironclad” is the American political establishment’s new favorite word when it comes to describing support for Israel – meaning that, ultimately, the habit of Israel’s massacre of Palestinians will always be defended to the detriment of Palestinian rights. so as not to be massacred.
Meanwhile, Kirby’s comment about “one expedition over another” is telling to say the least. After all, the United States sends Israel plenty of weapons — and delaying the delivery of 3,500 bombs hardly constitutes a betrayal of Israel’s destruction machine, as some more dramatic members of the American right have chosen to portray it.
To begin, Secretary Austin emphasized during his appearance before the Senate subcommittee that the suspension of arms deliveries would not affect the $26 billion in additional aid to Israel approved by the US Congress in April. This is in addition to the various billions of dollars already provided to Israel each year by the United States – most of which, the Council on Foreign Relations notes, “are provided as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program ), funds that Israel must use to purchase American military equipment and services.”
The suspension also will not impact the additional $827 million in military supplies the Biden administration just authorized for Israel.
In other words, it’s essentially the status quo – sort of the equivalent of giving someone hundreds of dollars daily, then pretending to withhold five cents.
Under U.S. policy on conventional arms transfers, the U.S. government is required to “prevent…arms transfers that may facilitate or otherwise contribute to human rights violations or of international humanitarian law. And yet, what is American foreign policy itself, if not a serious violation of all of this?
Even before the 2001 launch of the massive global violation known as the “war on terror,” the United States had already spent decades enabling massive bloodshed from Latin America to the Middle East. and beyond. In the particular case of Israel, the United States’ continued support for the wanton violation of human rights and international humanitarian law in Palestine and Lebanon begs the question why anyone bothered to write a conventional arms transfer policy.
Today, Secretary of State Austin also reaffirmed the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to Israel, even in the face of the suspension of munitions shipments – which only underscores the largely cosmetic nature of this decision and the perceived need to project a certain degree of commitment. humanitarian awareness and concern.
Biden himself also weighed in on Wednesday, warning that he would not provide offensive weapons to Israel in the event of an all-out assault on Rafah, noting that “civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs.”
Well yeah.
Genocide is genocide. And apart from a few thousand bombs, American complicity in this genocide is completely foolproof.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.