US to send $1bn more in weapons, ammo to Israel despite Rafah tensions

The Biden administration told key US lawmakers it would send over $1bln in additional arms and ammunitions to Israel, three congressional aides told the AP.

It was unclear, however, when the arms would be delivered.

The major transfer of military aid, initially reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes a week after the White House paused a single transfer of 1,800 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (227kg) bombs to Israel, citing concerns over the lives of civilians in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden had also said that we would stop sending offensive arms to Israel should it carry out a large-scale invasion of Rafah.

The congressional aides said the package revealed on Tuesday includes about “$700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds”.

In Gaza, six people were killed in two separate Israeli attacks on apartments in Gaza City, including a mother and her child overnight, as Israeli forces continue to carry out strikes across the Palestinian enclave.

The strikes come as the death toll from yesterday’s attack on a school and a home in Nuseirat, central Gaza killed rose to at least 40 people.

Additionally, Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported that the European Hospital in Khan Younis is now out of service as power generators ran out of fuel.

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