Destruction in northern Gaza. Rubble may contain a lot of unexploded ordnance. Credit: UNRWA

By Brett Wilkins
SAN FRANCISCO, USA, May 10 2024 (IPS)

While some Palestine defenders on Wednesday welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it launches a major invasion of Rafah, critics noted that an invasion is already underway and accused the American leader of walking back a previous “red line” warning against an Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city.

Biden said for the first time that he’ll stop sending bombs, artillery shells, and other arms to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians forcibly displaced from other parts of the embattled Gaza Strip are sheltering alongside around 280,000 local residents.

Referring to Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied 2,000-pound bombs—which can destroy an entire city block and have been used in some of the war’s worst atrocities—Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett that “civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers.”

Even the U.S. military—which has killed more foreign civilians than any other armed force on the planet since the end of World War II—won’t use 2,000-pound bombs in urban areas. But Israel does, including when it launched a strike to assassinate a single Hamas commander by dropping the munitions on the Jabalia refugee camp last October, killing more than 120 civilians.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities,” Biden said Wednesday.

Israeli forces have already gone into Rafah, and it was reported Tuesday that Biden was taking the unusual step of delaying shipments of two types of Boeing-made bombs to Israel to send a message to the country’s far-right government.

It was, however, a mixed message, as the president also earlier in the day reaffirmed his support for Israel’s war on Gaza, which the International Court of Justice said is “plausibly” genocidal in a preliminary ruling in January.

Critics noted the shifting and subjective language used by Biden—who previously said that any Israeli invasion of Rafah would constitute a “red line” resulting in unspecified consequences.

“He said invading Rafah was a red line. Israel invaded Rafah anyway, bombing buildings, burning and crushing children to death,” political analyst Omar Baddar said on social media. “Biden is now moving the goal post by adding a completely subjective descriptor: ‘Major.’ Now Israel has a green light to destroy Rafah in slow motion.”

During the course of the seven-month Israeli assault on Gaza—which has killed, maimed, or left missing more than 124,000 Palestinians—Biden has said Israel has killed “too many civilians” with its “indiscriminate bombing,” even as he’s pushed for more and more military aid for the key ally.

Wednesday’s interview came on the heels of Biden’s approval of a $14.3 billion emergency military aid package to Israel, multiple moves to sidestep Congress to fast-track armed assistance, nearly $4 billion in previously authorized annual military aid, and diplomatic cover in the form of several United Nations Security Council vetoes.

Reporting that the Biden administration will delay a highly anticipated report on whether Israel is using U.S. military aid in compliance with international law also drew backlash Tuesday from human rights advocates.

Referring to Israel’s U.S.-funded anti-missile system, Biden continued his supportive rhetoric during Wednesday’s CNN interview, telling Burnett that “we’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks.”

But the president added that Israel’s use of devastating weaponry against civilians is “just wrong,” and that “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”

Some peace groups welcomed Biden’s threat to withhold bombs and artillery shells from Israel, even while urging him to do more to stop his ally’s genocidal onslaught.

“Biden’s statement is as necessary as it is over overdue,” Jewish Voice for Peace executive director Stefanie Fox said in a statement. “The U.S. already bears responsibility for months of Israeli military has killed, the two million Palestinians being intentionally brought to the brink of famine, the decimation of all universities and almost every hospital in Gaza.”

“Today’s statement shows that Biden can no longer ignore the will of the majority of Americans who want a permanent cease-fire, release of all hostages, and an end to U.S. complicity in Israeli war crimes,” Fox added.

Source: Common Dreams

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

IPS UN Bureau

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
  

Much of the Gaza Strip lies in ruins. Credit: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra

By Brett Wilkins
NEW YORK, Apr 1 2024 (IPS)

Despite growing worldwide calls for an arms embargo, the Biden administration in recent days has approved the transfer of billions of dollars worth of new weapons shipments to Israel, including warplanes and 2,000-pound bombs that have been dropped on densely populated areas of Gaza with devastating results.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the administration has “quietly” authorized arms shipments including more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, as well as 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth approximately $2.5 billion.

The transfers are the latest of more than 100 arms shipments authorized by the Biden administration since the October 7 attacks on Israel.

“‘Quietly,'” Palestinian American writer and political analyst Yousef Munayyer scoffed in response to the report. “This is cowardly from the administration. If you are going to be full backers of genocide, own it. We see you and history sees you as well.”

“It is scary to think of the world U.S. support for Israel is creating. A world with no rules, no limits in war, where norms don’t exist, and where genocide is supportable,” he added. “Good luck getting anyone to listen to you about international law after this.”

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said in a statement: “We strongly condemn the Biden administration’s unbelievable and unconscionable decision to secretly send hundreds of new 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons to support Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocide. Arming a war criminal makes you a war criminal.”

According to the Post: The 2,000-pound bombs, capable of leveling city blocks and leaving craters in the earth 40 feet across and larger, are almost never used any more by Western militaries in densely populated locations due to the risk of civilian casualties.

Israel has used them extensively in Gaza, according to several reports, most notably in the bombing of Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp October 31. U.N. officials decried the strike, which killed more than 100 people, as a “disproportionate attack that could amount to war crimes.” Israel defended the bombing, saying it resulted in the death of a Hamas leader.

The Biden administration’s arms shipments to Israel continue despite urgent pleas from United Nations officials, international human rights groups, and some progressive U.S. lawmakers to stop arming Israel’s 175-day Gaza onslaught, during which Israeli bombs and bullets have killed more than 32,600 Palestinians—mostly women and children—while wounding over 75,000 others and damaging or destroying hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, and other structures.

The International Court of Justice in January found that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and ordered the country to prevent genocidal acts. However, Israel has been accused of ignoring the ICJ order, and amid ongoing atrocities—including the forced starvation of Palestinians—the court on Thursday issued another order demanding that Israel allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Last December, when the death toll in Gaza stood at approximately 18,000, President Joe Biden implored the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Palestinian civilians in the embattled enclave.

However, U.S. support for Israel—which already included nearly $4 billion in annual military aid—has continued unabated, with the Biden administration seeking an additional $14.3 million in armed assistance and repeatedly bypassing Congress to fast-track emergency weapons shipments.

“The U.S. cannot beg Netanyahu to stop bombing civilians one day and the next send him thousands more 2,000-pound bombs that can level entire city blocks,” U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media Friday. “This is obscene. We must end our complicity: No more bombs to Israel.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told the Post that “the Biden administration needs to use their leverage effectively and, in my view, they should receive these basic commitments before greenlighting more bombs for Gaza. We need to back up what we say with what we do.”

Biden administration officials have claimed they don’t have any leverage over Israel, drawing ridicule from observers who point to the indispensable military and diplomatic support the U.S. provides.

The staggering death and destruction wrought by Israel’s assault on Gaza has drawn criticism from even staunch supporters of the key U.S. ally.

Referring to the worsening famine in Gaza—which one U.S. State Department official acknowledged anonymously to Reuters on Friday—New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on social media: “Really, POTUS? With Gaza facing starvation and Netanyahu defying you over Rafah, you ship billions of dollars in additional weapons to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs, without end-use restrictions? Bibi is rolling you.”

Source: Common Dreams

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

IPS UN Bureau

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau