Biden administration presses Congress to approve tank shells for
Israel's war in Gaza -sources
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[December 09, 2023]
By Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration has asked Congress to
approve the sale of 45,000 shells for Israel's Merkava tanks for use in
its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, according to four sources familiar
with the matter, including a U.S. official and a former U.S. official.
The request is being made even as concerns grow about the use of U.S.
weapons in a war that has killed thousands of civilians in the
Palestinian enclave since Israel responded to an attack on Oct. 7 by
Hamas militants.
The potential sale, worth more than $500 million, is not part of
President Joe Biden's $110.5 billion supplemental request that includes
funding for Ukraine and Israel. It is under informal review by the
Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
committees, which allows members the privilege to stall the sale, or
have informal discussions with the administration about concerns.
The U.S. State Department is pushing the congressional committees to
quickly approve the transaction, said a U.S. official and Josh Paul, a
former State Department official, amid objections from rights advocates
over the use of U.S.-made weapons in the conflict.
"This went to committees earlier this week and they are supposed to have
20 days to review Israel cases. State (Department) is pushing them to
clear now," said Paul, who in October resigned from the State Department
in protest over what he called the administration's "blind support" for
Israel.
The administration is also weighing using Arms Export Control Act
emergency authorities to allow a portion of the ammunition, 13,000 of
the 45,000 shells, to bypass the committee and review period, two U.S.
officials said, although a final decision was yet to be made. The move
would allow Israel to prepare for contingencies given the high tensions
in the region, one of the U.S. officials said.
A State Department spokesperson said as a matter of policy, "we do not
confirm or comment on proposed defense transfers or sales until they
have been formally notified to Congress."
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat on the chamber's foreign relations
committee, said congressional view was a critical step for large weapons
sales.
"The administration should not consider short-circuiting the already
short time frame for congressional review of this or any other arms
transfer," he said.
Online images of the war show that Israel regularly deploys Merkava
tanks in its Gaza offensive and on its southern border with Lebanon,
where skirmishes have erupted since Oct. 7.
RISKING COMPLICITY
The tanks are also linked to incidents that involved the death of
journalists.
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U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Harry Reid International Airport
in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth
Frantz
On Thursday, a Reuters investigation revealed that an Israeli tank
crew killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six
reporters by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while
the journalists were filming cross-border shelling.
Israel has sharply increased strikes on the Gaza Strip since a
seven-day-long truce ended a week ago, pounding the length of the
Palestinian enclave and killing hundreds in a new, expanded phase of
the war that Washington said veered from Israeli promises to do more
to protect civilians.
Gaza's health ministry said the death toll from Israel's campaign in
Gaza had risen to 17,487.
As the war intensified, how and where exactly the U.S. weapons are
used in the conflict has come under more scrutiny, even though U.S.
officials say there are no plans to put conditions on military aid
to Israel or to consider withholding some of it.
Rights advocates expressed concern over the sale, saying it doesn't
align with Washington's effort to press Israel to minimize civilian
casualties.
"By continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover
as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the
Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the U.S. risks complicity
in war crimes," said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights
Watch.
The United States on Friday also vetoed a proposed United Nations
Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, a
move that diplomatically isolated Washington as it shields its ally.
Earlier this week, Amnesty International said US-made Joint Direct
Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two air
strikes on homes full of civilians, the first time a rights group
has directly linked U.S. weapons to an attack that killed civilians.
Israel says it is providing detail about which areas are safe for
civilians and how to reach them, and says Hamas is to blame for harm
that befalls civilians because it operates among them, an accusation
the Islamist group denies.
Israel launched what it says is a campaign to destroy Hamas after
the Islamist militant group attacked Israeli towns in a surprise
cross-border incursion on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking
more than 240 hostages.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; additional reporting by Idrees Ali and
Mike Stone in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United
NationsEditing by Don Durfee, Diane Craft and Grant McCool)
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