After threat

USA wants to supply Israel with weapons worth billions

The USA is planning an arms package worth billions for Israel.

(Bild: APA/AFP )

According to government circles, the US administration of President Joe Biden informed Congress on Tuesday (local time) of an arms delivery to Israel worth around one billion dollars (approx. 920 million euros). The USA had recently threatened to withhold weapons due to the Rafah offensive.

Congress still has to approve the weapons package, said a US government representative. It could include 700 million dollars for tank ammunition and 500 million dollars for tactical vehicles.

The "Wall Street Journal" first reported on the new weapons package. Last week, Biden threatened Israel with withholding some weapons in the event of a major offensive in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. The US government had also declared that it had suspended a delivery of bombs to Israel due to concerns about Israel's planned Rafah offensive.

Almost half a million people had to flee the embattled city of Rafah within a few days.

(Bild: AFP/AFP )

450,000 people fled Rafah within a week
Meanwhile, Israeli troops are advancing further and further into the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, which is overcrowded with refugees. Residents reported on Tuesday that tanks had advanced in districts in the east of the city on the border with Egypt. On Tuesday, tanks moved from the east into neighborhoods further west. According to UN estimates, almost 450,000 people fled Rafah within a week. According to the military, there are Israeli hostages in the area.

"We are determined to do whatever it takes to create the conditions for them to return to us soon," said army spokesman Daniel Hagari on Tuesday evening. Hagari did not address the reports that Israeli troops had advanced further into the city. He said that since the Rafah offensive began last week, more than 100 Palestinian fighters had been killed and ten tunnels belonging to the Islamist Hamas had been discovered.

Israel advances in Rafah despite international criticism
The Israeli army advanced on the city from the east just over a week ago and since then has also controlled the Palestinian part of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. Israel is exerting military pressure on the Islamist Hamas in Rafah in order to secure the release of hostages kidnapped in October. Israel also wants to dismantle the extremists' remaining battalions. The Israeli government is thus sticking to its policy of continuing the attacks on Rafah despite growing international criticism. 

In an unprecedented massacre by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023, around 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage. The terrorist attack triggered the current Gaza war. The relatives of the hostages still remaining in the Gaza Strip continue to fear for their return. Negotiations on a hostage deal have recently stalled.