President Joe Biden of the United States and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, initiated a telephonic conversation on Thursday advocating for a 21-day halt in combat between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon. This proposal was favoured by several global players including the United Kingdom, the Europe Union, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, insisted for the military operations to proceed unrestrained. Netanyahu further stated on Friday that Israel remains open to peaceful discussions with a condition not to stop combat actions.
Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from Montreal, Macron stressed on the necessity for the U.S. to put more pressure on the Israeli head of government to accept the peace proposal. Macron is of the opinion that warfare in the present Lebanese scenario is unacceptable and could lead to the risk of unmanageable escalation.
Amid the crisis, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, during his discourse at the UN General Assembly, requested for cessation of weapon supplies to Israel in order to prevent further bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza.
Biden’s administration, in contrast, released $3.5 billion funding equivalent to €3.1 billion, to facilitate the purchase of United States weaponry enabling Israel to continue their military action in Gaza and Lebanon. Furthermore, an additional $5.2 billion fund is expected for the procurement of air defence systems. These payouts are over and above the annual $3.8 billion U.S. commitment towards Israel’s military aid, stretching over a decade, including the $20.3 billion agreement to provide F-15 fighter plans, air-to-air missiles, tanks, mortar rounds and related equipment, with delivery due by 2026.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that almost 69% of Israel’s conventional arms were sourced from the United States between 2019 and 2023. It was also reported that the United States rushed to deliver thousands of bombs and missiles to Israel by end of last year. However, only sales worth $106 million in tank shells and $147 million in components for artillery shells were disclosed publicly by Biden’s administration.
As reported by the BBC citing U.S. media, covert sales to Israel pertaining to precision-guided weapons, small-diameter and bunker-buster bombs, and light-weight arms in excess of 100 transactions were completed in March by the administration. Interestingly, each of these sales lied below the threshold set for congressional approval.
Under the strain from Congress, the U.S. governing authority suspended the supply of 1,800 907kg and 1,700 227kg bombs to Israel, which were used in the highly populated civilian regions of Gaza, in May. However, in July, the distribution of the 227kg bombs recommenced.
According to records from the American Council on Foreign Relations, since Israel’s inception in 1948, it has garnered approximately $310 billion from the U.S. in the form of economic and defence aid. This substantiates it as the nation with the highest accumulation of U.S. foreign aide. Within this sum, $230 billion pertains to military assistance. The majority of this aid is provided as grants for the acquisition of military gear and services from the United States.