US ambassador informs Netanyahu of incoming military aid

JERUSALEM (AA) – The US envoy to Tel Aviv has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the imminent arrival of American weapons and ammunition, Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday.

“US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday that the ammunition and weapons that the PM referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel,” it said in a statement. “Prime Minister Netanyahu said he expects this to happen and instructed Israeli teams to work with their American counterparts to that end.”

Netanyahu had criticized Washington on Tuesday for withholding weapons and ammunition.

“It is inconceivable that in the past few months, the (American) administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel,” he told Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent visit to Tel Aviv.

Since the beginning of its war on Gaza in October last year, the US has provided substantial quantities of weapons and ammunition to Israel, according to American and Israeli sources.

President Joe Biden previously suspended a limited arms deal with Israel, citing concerns about the protection of civilians.

Earlier this month, Israel inked a $3 billion deal to purchase 25 US-made F-35 fighter jets, according to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, reported by Haaretz.

In April, Biden signed a $26.4 billion aid package for Israel, which included $14 billion in military assistance.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued killing Palestinians. It has killed at least 37,400 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and injured more than 85,400 others, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.