US President Joe Biden's administration briefed Congress on Tuesday on a $1 billion arms package for Israel, official sources told AFP, a week after threatening to freeze some weapons over concerns over the Rafah attack.
The administration has informally notified Congress of the weapons package it would need to approve, a U.S. official said, while a congressional aide, also requesting anonymity, said the weapons purchased from U.S. arms manufacturers would be approved. The price was approximately 1 billion dollars.
These weapons will come from a larger $95 billion package recently approved by Congress in defense assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and the Biden administration has repeatedly said it plans to go ahead and secure the money through purchases from American manufacturers. Have planned to do it appropriately.
But the agreement comes a week after Biden warned that Israel could stop Israel with bombs and artillery shells if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proceeded to defy US warnings with an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where ten More than a million Palestinians have taken refuge. Half a year of war.
The Biden administration also confirmed last week that it had halted a shipment including 2,000 pounds of bombs for the first time over fears they would be used in Rafah with devastating risks to civilians.