US Pauses Shipment of Bombs to Israel While Funneling in Billions More Funding
by Farrukh Abadi
Last week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced at a Senate subcommittee hearing that the US was pausing one shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel “in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.” Earlier in the week, Israel had begun an intense aerial attack and ground invasion of eastern Rafah, the southern city of Gaza where roughly 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering from Israel’s continued genocide.
When questioned about the decision to pause one arms shipment, Austin began by stating: “First of all, our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. As you’ve seen from the very beginning, we’ve flowed billions of dollars of security assistance at a very rapid pace into Israel, and… with your help, we’re grateful for this, we just passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation.”
Austin also clarified that the US government had not yet made any final decisions on stopping the flow of military “aid” to Israel, but rather that they were just pausing one shipment of bombs to ensure the US is “providing the right kinds of weaponry” to Israel.
Senator Lindsey Graham argued that the US should give Israel weapons without restraint and implied that Israel should utilize nuclear weapons on Palestine, stating: “this is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids.”
Although US pauses on “aid” to Israel are relatively rare, they have occurred on several occasions in the past when Israel did not comply with US dictates. Former US Presidents Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush all have either delayed or withheld “aid” to Israel.
Other US officials have also pointed out the insignificance of the pause. Prior to Austin’s public statement, National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated “All I can tell you is that… our support for Israel’s security remains ironclad. And I’m not going to get into the specifics of one shipment over another.”
During the Senate hearing, Austin himself emphasized that only one shipment of weapons was under scrutiny. This means that the $26 billion “aid” bill for Israel passed last month, as well as the $827 million in military “aid” that Biden recently authorized are both moving ahead untouched.
Since October 7, Biden has reportedly made over 100 military “aid” transfers to Israel.
A recent report from the Biden administration investigating whether Israel has violated US or international law using US weapons concluded that Israel has used weapons “inconsistent” with international law but that the US cannot identify any specific instances of this and therefore will continue to supply Israel with arms.
photo: Austin speaks on the single paused shipment of bombs while anti-war protesters hold up bloody palms
