The United States’ unconditional support for Israel has come in the form of military, political, and financial aid.
Since the beginning of Israel’s declared war on the Gaza Strip, which South Africa argues to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is genocidal in nature, the US Biden administration has consistently aided the Israeli continuation of the armed conflict. This unconditional support has come in the form of military, political and financial aid.
The United States government has been complicit, not only in Israel’s current war inside the Gaza Strip but aided in creating the conditions that led to the escalation of the conflict on and since October 7.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, drew the ire of Israeli officials following his remarks that the Hamas-led attack against Israel did not happen in a vacuum.
The context to the current humanitarian crisis created inside the Gaza Strip, dubbed “the worst ever” by UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, is the evident 17-year-long siege imposed upon the coastal territory.
This siege would not have been possible without US support, which came in the face of calls from within the United Nations to end the blockade.
The US has imposed sanctions on the Gaza Strip since 2006 and even plotted, without the knowledge of Congress, a military coup against the elected government, which led to the violent confrontation between rivaling Palestinian political factions – Hamas and Fatah – in 2007.
‘I Come before You as a Jew’ – Blinken
Just hours into the war, which began on October 7, the US Biden administration positioned an aircraft carrier, warships and fighter jets in the Mediterranean Sea area to support its ally in Tel Aviv. US carrier strike group 12 was directly ordered into the region by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was followed by a declaration from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “full support” would be provided to the Israelis.
Antony Blinken, upon arriving at Ben Gurion Airport for the first time during the war, declared to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that he was in the country “as a Jew”, eliciting his dogmatic ties to Israel’s war goals. Guided missile launchers, F-35 fighter jets, Iron Dome Air Defense aid and artillery munitions were all pledged to Israel.
On October 10 reports began to emerge that the US military had deployed additional troops to the region, along with the announcement that the naval force that was deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean would be beefed up.
On top of this, additional fighter jets were deployed to American bases throughout West Asia. Then, as Israel prepared for its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the US Biden administration began preparing a 2 billion dollar military aid package.
Delta Force & Weapons
Photographed with the American President, Joe Biden, were members of the US army’s ‘Delta Force’, which led to speculation over the extent of the American ground presence in support of Tel Aviv’s war.
Defense officials, on October 15, stated to American media that their Defense Secretary had readied around 2,000 personnel to deploy to Israel in order to aid their fight if needed, as the US Biden administration officially announced its proposed 2 billion dollar military aid package for Tel Aviv and Kiev.
By October 17 alone, at least five shipments of American weapons and equipment had been delivered to the Israeli military. Then, on October 20, Joe Biden stated that an additional fund he had requested congress to authorize would amount to a total of 14 billion dollars in aid.
Following up on this, a Republican proposal passed through the US house of representatives, allocating 14.5 billion in aid to Israel, bringing the total US aid to Israel – since 1948 – to 124 billion dollars (317.9 billion when accounting for inflation), higher than any other State has received.
In early December it was reported that Washington had supplied over 57,000 155mm artillery shells, 15,000 bombs, many of which were described as “bunker busting munitions”. The US was revealed to have also supplied 2,000 pound bombs, in addition to over 5,000 unguided Mk82 munitions, more than 5,400 Mk84 bombs, around 1,000 small diameter GBU-39s, and almost 3,000 JDAMs.
Emergency Authorizations & Vetoes
On December 9, the American President used the emergency authorization provision to skip congressional approval for 106.5 million dollars worth of tank shells to Israel, then on December 29 he again bypassed congress to authorize the transfer of an additional 147.5 million dollars of lethal munitions to the Israeli military.
The US President has been caught spreading false atrocity propaganda reports, in order to whip up American public support for the ongoing Israeli war effort, including when Joe Biden lied about seeing photos of Hamas fighters beheading babies.
In addition to this, the US has vetoed multiple ceasefire proposals presented at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and has stood alone with Israel in the UN General Assembly during two crucial votes which have called for a cessation of hostilities.
Twice in a Month – Biden Bypasses Congress to Send More Weapons to Israel
‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’
The White House has also ordered escalatory measures regionally, including ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ in the Red Sea, joint US-UK precision missile strikes against Yemen, an illegal assassination strike in Baghdad against an integrated group belonging to the Iraqi security apparatus, and has refused to reign in Israel after it carried out assassinations in Syria and Lebanon.
While calling for an increase in the amount of humanitarian aid that is allowed into the Gaza Strip, where disease and starvation spreads in unprecedented numbers and where no hospitals remain fully functional, in over 100 days of conflict the Biden administration has taken no tangible step to allow sufficient aid to reach Gaza.
Throughout the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the US Biden administration has provided political, public relations, military, financial and logistical support to Israel and has refused to abandon its “unconditional support” approach.
For these reasons, the US is widely understood to be an active participant in the war on Gaza in the eyes of the region.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
