The administration of United States President Joe Biden is reported to have provisionally approved a $680m arms package to Israel, even as it asserts that it is pushing for peace in the Middle East.
Reports of the arms deal on Wednesday come a day after Biden announced a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and promised to renew efforts to reach a similar agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza – one he has repeatedly promised but failed to deliver.
The arms package had been in the works for months and had been previewed by congressional committees in September and submitted for wider review in October, an unnamed US official told the Reuters news agency, which confirmed an earlier report by the Financial Times on Biden’s provisional approval.
The latest delivery will include hundreds of small-diameter bombs and thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAMs), both news organisations reported. JDAMs convert “dumb” bombs into precision-guided weapons.
The Biden administration has not confirmed the reports, the timing of which highlights the juxtaposition of the US position on the Middle East conflict – on the one hand facilitating ceasefire negotiations while on the other hand selling billions of dollars of munitions to Israel as it kills tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese.
On Tuesday, Biden – who has consistently supported Israel and portrays US arms sales to Israel as essential support for an ally – held an address at the White House announcing that a US-brokered ceasefire that would see Israel withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days had been reached. That deal went into effect early on Wednesday.
During the address, Biden promised to again seek an end to the fighting that has raged in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
For months, previous attempts by Washington to broker a deal have come up short with critics accusing Washington of failing to exert its most meaningful leverage – withholding some of the billions of dollars in arms it provides to Israel.
To date, Israel has killed at least 44,282 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed at least 1,139 people. Israeli forces have killed more than 3,800 people in Lebanon in the past 13 months.
“Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and the end to the war without Hamas in power – that it becomes possible,” Biden said.
Questions over weapons
The latest weapons package would have been blocked as part of legislation introduced by several Democratic senators to stop about $20bn in arms sales to Israel, the Financial Times reported. However the effort, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, fell short of votes this month.
For their part, US officials have repeatedly denied that delays in some arms transfers have been related to Israel’s actions beyond a pause this year of a shipment of 900kg (2,000lb) bombs in a fruitless effort to prevent Israel from launching a major ground operation in Rafah.
Speaking to reporters after Biden’s speech, a US official denied that either withholding or promising more weapons to Israel was part of negotiations that eventually led to the Israel-Hezbollah agreement.
The official said: “No part of this negotiation involved weapons on either side.”
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday appeared to offer a contradictory account, saying the ceasefire with Hezbollah was needed to “replenish stocks”, among other reasons.
“And I say it openly: It is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon,” Netanyahu said during a national address without specifically naming the US.
“We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission.”
Continued support before Trump’s return
Advocates said the latest approval from the Biden administration indicates there will be little change in the president’s policy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
In a post on X, the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project said the move shows “President Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, US law, and international law.”
It noted that the small-diameter bombs and JDAMs reportedly provided in the package have been linked to Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza.
The Biden administration has also been one of the most vocal critics of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) decision last week to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who Israel said it has killed.
In a statement, Biden called the warrants against the Israeli officials “outrageous” and promised to “always stand with Israel against threats to its security”. Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday said it would appeal the court’s ruling.
Trump is expected to take a more provocative stance against the ICC – and in his overall support for Israel – after he takes office with his Republican Party in control of both the US House of Representatives and Senate after the November 5 elections.
Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Representative Mike Walz, has already promised a “strong response” to the ICC and the United Nations “come January”.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham went further, promising during a trip to Israel on Wednesday to introduce legislation that “would sanction any country that tried to enforce the arrest warrant against Israel”.
“You could be a close ally – Canada, Britain, France, you name it – [but] if you buy into this arrest warrant as legitimate, then you’re going to meet stiff, bipartisan resistance in America,” Graham said. “So, to the world, if you empower this folly at the ICC, then you will have a hard time doing business in America and coming to America.”
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that Graham had met with the Israeli leader during the trip.
The prime minister’s office said Graham “updated him on the efforts that he is advancing in the US Congress against the ICC and countries that have cooperated with it”.
