The Biden administration has authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite concerns from Washington about a probable military operation in southern Gaza.
The weapons package includes more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
A State Department official told Fox News Digital that “fulfilling an authorization from one notification to Congress can result in dozens of individual Foreign Military Sales cases across the decades-long life-cycle of the congressional notification.”
Israeli soldiers fire a mortar shell from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Heavy fighting raged in central and southern Gaza on Wednesday as fears mounted of a regional escalation following a strike in Beirut that killed one of the top Hamas leaders. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
“As a matter of practicality, major procurements, like Israel’s F-35 program for example, are often broken out into several cases over many years,” the official added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that Israel hasn’t received all the military arms it has requested as its fight with Hamas intensifies.
“Although we’ve been supporting them with capability, they’ve not received everything they’ve asked for,” he said. “Some of that is because they’ve asked for stuff that we either don’t have the capacity to provide or not willing to provide, not right now.”
News of the military assistance to Israel comes as the Biden administration has voiced concerns over Israel’s managing of the war, which has killed thousands and displaced many of the residents of the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas.
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A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on Jan. 22 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas. (AFP via Getty Images)
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” a White House official told the Post. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.”
Some Democrats have called for Biden to withhold aid without an Israeli commitment to put measures in place to limit civilian casualties in Rafath, a Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza.
The issue has caused a rift in U.S.-Israeli relations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit by a delegation to Washington this week after the U.S. refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
The resolution did not condemn Hamas.
Meanwhile, progressives angry with Biden’s support for Israel have voiced their displeasure with him at every turn. During his multi-million dollar fundraiser in New York City on Thursday, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Radio City Music Hall to call for an end to Israeli aid.
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Inside the venue, several protesters interrupted the festivities.
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