Responding to Netanyahu’s comments, Blinken told reporters that the hold on the 2,000-pound bombs remains in place, rejecting Netanyahu’s claim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video in English on Tuesday that the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised him to remove restrictions on arms transfer to Israel, but Washington appeared to reject the claim.
In the video, Netanyahu claimed he had a “candid conversation” about arms deliveries with Blinken during his last visit to Israel.
“I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding that Blinken assured him the Biden administration was working to remove “bottlenecks”.
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Netanyahu was referring to the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, which were reportedly held by Washington last May.
According to the US-based news website Axios, “Netanyahu’s remarks, made on video in English, were one of his harshest public criticisms of the Biden administration since the war in Gaza began on October 7.”
Responding to Netanyahu’s comments, however, Blinken told reporters that the US is committed to Israeli security and continues to ensure arms transfers to Israel on a “regular basis”.
However, he said that the hold on the 2,000-pound bombs bombs remains in place.
“We, as you know, are continuing to review one shipment that President Biden has talked about with regard to 2000-pound bombs because of our concerns about their use in a densely populated area like Rafah,” Blinken said.
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“That remains under review. But everything else is moving as it normally would move,” he added.
The US administration of Joe Biden administration has postponed the transfer of thousands of precision-guided weapons to Israel, amid speculations that Washington is intentionally delaying weapon deliveries due to increasing political pressure domestically, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the report, the US stance also aligns with its opposition to Israel’s plans to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Despite external pressure to restrict arms sales due to concerns over civilian casualties and damage in Gaza from the US-supplied weapons, the White House has remained publicly committed to Tel Aviv.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Clearly it’s propaganda. Why would Netanyahu reveal military info? he would only do that to persuade his enemy that he still has a chance in his lost war.