Biden bows to pressure from anti-Israel Democrats and suspends ammunition shipments to Israel for the first time since Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks
President Joe Biden decided last week to stop sending American ammunition to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Two Israeli officials told Axios that the suspension of ammunition has raised serious concerns in Jerusalem and confused the Israeli government to understand why the last scheduled shipment was held up.
Biden halting shipments of US ammunition marks the first time the US has failed to follow through on sending arms aid since Israel was invaded and attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 – launching a now seven-month war in Gaza .
The White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the Israeli Prime Minister’s office have not yet responded or commented on the report.
The US last week suspended shipments of American-made ammunition to Israel
It is the first time that President Joe Biden’s administration has halted shipments of ammunition to Israel since Hamas invaded on October 7, 2023.
Ceasefire talks appeared to have collapsed overnight after a Hamas rocket attack killed three Israeli army soldiers at a checkpoint on Sunday. The IDF retaliatory attack killed 19 Palestinians in Rafah.
According to the Associated Press, the IDF ordered evacuations in the southern Gaza city on Monday morning, which they said could mean that “a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.”
Hamas’s overnight attack is now being used as evidence that the terror group is using Palestinians as ‘human shields’ to fend off retaliatory attacks and gain global support for a ceasefire as a result of the loss of innocent lives in Gaza.
President Biden has faced a barrage of criticism from Americans opposed to supporting Israel in its war with Hamas terrorists operating out of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Israel sent a signed letter to the Biden administration in March assuring that all US-made weapons would be used in the Middle East conflict in accordance with international law.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday alluding to rising tensions between the government in Jerusalem and the Biden administration.
‘During the terrible Holocaust, there were great world leaders who stood idly by; therefore, the first lesson of the Holocaust is: if we do not defend ourselves, no one will defend us. And if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” the Prime Minister said.
Hamas attacks on Sunday prove that the terrorist group is using Palestinians as ‘human shields’ in the war with Israel
There are concerns that Israel is planning to invade the southern Gaza town of Rafah, which is home to more than a million Palestinians. Netanyahu has released several statements confirming intentions to invade.
The escalation of tensions with the overnight attacks only increases the chances that a Rafah invasion is imminent.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel last Wednesday and had a “tough” conversation with Netanyahu about the consequences if Israel conducted a ground operation in Rafah, according to two sources briefed on the meeting.