The Biden administration is reportedly advancing a sale of weapons, worth nearly $700 million, to Israel as its military furthers its plan of ethnic cleansing in north Gaza and despite the ceasefire agreement Israel reached with Hezbollah this week.
As first reported by Financial Times, which cited people familiar with the sale, the administration has notified Congress that it is moving forward with a $680 million arms sale that includes thousands of JDAMs and 615 small diameter bombs — both of which Israel has used extensively in attacks against Palestinians in Gaza that experts have said are war crimes.
The additional weapons sale comes on top of the record $18 billion in military aid the Biden administration already sent in the first year of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as at least over a hundred weapons transfers not publicly reported by the administration.
It also comes as the U.S. is slated to send $20 billion in weapons to Israel, including fighter jets, JDAMs, and tank ammunition, among other weapons. Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) brought a set of resolutions to block three parts of the sale, totalling just $1 billion of the deal, but the legislation only got the approval of about a fifth of the Senate.
U.S. officials have said that the weapons transfer is not related to the ceasefire agreement struck this week in Lebanon, which began early Wednesday morning. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed, per Financial Times, that the weapons deal was only struck to make the deal happen, while also saying that there have been “big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries,” without evidence.
U.S. officials have denied the delays. In October, the Biden administration threatened to withhold weapons transfers if Israel did not take steps to ameliorate the humanitarian catastrophe it has created in Gaza within 30 days. Within that period, Israeli forces instead worsened their humanitarian blockade, making the situation even more dire — and yet, the administration said that it hadn’t seen evidence that it should withhold weapons, defying its own ultimatum.
Experts, lawmakers and advocates for Palestinian rights have long said that it is clear that continuing to send weapons to Israel violates domestic and international law regarding human rights.
“President Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, U.S. law, and international law,” said the International Middle East Understanding Policy Project. “The weapons included in this package have been used by Israel in numerous apparent war crimes.”
Rights groups and analysts have documented dozens of incidents in which Israel used U.S. weapons on Gaza and Lebanon in what they say are likely war crimes, while numerous UN experts have said that just the act of sending Israel weapons as it carries out its illegal occupation of Palestine can render a state complicit in violations of international law.
Just this week, investigations by The Guardian and Human Rights Watch found that Israeli forces used a U.S.-provided JDAM kit in an attack on journalists in Lebanon in October, killing three and injuring four others in their sleep. Human Rights Watch found that Israel likely deliberately targeted civilians in the attack, which would make it a war crime.
The risk of U.S. weapons being used to commit war crimes is still ever-present. For nearly two months, Israel has been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing and extermination in north Gaza, aiming to destroy all conditions of life in the region in order to wipe out the remaining population of Palestinians there. At the same time, Israeli forces have continued to bomb central and southern Gaza, and have been firing on people in Lebanon even after the ceasefire began on Wednesday.
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $150,000 in one-time donations and to add 1,500 new monthly donors.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy