White House approves $1 billion aid package to Israel after halting aid over Rafah operation

The Biden Administration said it was withholding one part of the shipment that includes 2,000-pound bombs.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Despite stating its intention to halt military aid to Israel last week, the Biden Administration informed Congress that it is moving forward with a $1 billion aid package to Israel.

However, the Biden Administration said it was withholding one part of the shipment that included 2,000-pound bombs because it opposes the use of bombs in Rafah and approves only targeted strikes against terror targets in the area.

President Biden attempted to discourage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from operating in Rafah to avoid endangering the 1.4 million Palestinian civilians located there.

Netanyahu has insisted that the Rafah operation is essential for winning the war and eliminating the last of Hamas’s battalions, which are located in Rafah.

The $1 billion military aid shipment to Israel will include $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds.

The White House also said it would further limit military aid if Israel strikes in densely populated areas.

“We are continuing to send military assistance,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday. “We have paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because we don’t believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities.”

This week, House Republicans have sponsored a bill that would require the White House to go ahead with the proposed military aid to Israel.

The White House has declared that it would veto the bill that would, in effect, force the administration’s hand regarding Israel aid.

In addition, the bill would most likely not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, although a number of Democratic lawmakers disapproved of President Biden’s threat last week to withhold Israel’s military aid over the Rafah operation.

Two dozen House Democrats signed a letter to the President saying that they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing military aid to Israel.