By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - The US envoy to Tel Aviv informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the imminent arrival of American weapons and ammunition, Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday.
“US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday that the ammunition and weapons that the PM referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel,” it said in a statement. “Prime Minister Netanyahu said he expects this to happen and instructed Israeli teams to work with their American counterparts to that end.”
Netanyahu criticized Washington on Tuesday for previously withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel.
“It is inconceivable that in the past few months, the (American) administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel,” he noted telling US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent visit to Tel Aviv.
The White House responded by canceling a strategic meeting with Israel that was scheduled for Thursday, according to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, the US has provided substantial quantities of weapons and ammunition to Israel, according to American and Israeli sources.
US President Joe Biden previously suspended a limited arms deal with Israel, citing concerns about the protection of civilians.
Earlier this month, Israel inked a $3 billion deal to purchase 25 US-made F-35 fighter jets, according to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, reported by Haaretz.
In April, Biden signed a $26.4 billion aid package for Israel, which included $14 billion in military assistance.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive against Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Nearly 37,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio