The United States on Sunday began sending military aid to Israel with new munitions, and bringing its carrier strike group closer to the Mediterranean, marking rapid support for its historic ally surprised by attacks by Palestinian Hamas.
In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, President Joe Biden announced that “additional aid for the Israeli armed forces is now on its way to Israel, and more will follow in the coming days,” according to a statement from the White House.
The US president pledged “full support for his government and the Israeli people following a horrific and unprecedented assault by Hamas terrorists,” the executive added.
The first package of military aid “will begin shipping today and will arrive in the coming days,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
He said he had ordered the carrier strike group of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest warship, to head to the eastern Mediterranean. The carrier strike group was in the Ionian Sea, south of the Adriatic, in early October, according to the US Navy.
The American Air Force has also increased the deployment of its combat aircraft in the region, Lloyd Austin said.
All this “strengthens the posture of the US Department of Defense in the region”, he further declared, adding that “the United States maintains its forces ready globally to strengthen the deterrence posture if necessary”.
Americans hostage to Hamas
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who increased the number of interviews on Sunday, shared information according to which Americans were among the victims of the attacks. “We are working to verify that,” he said.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog, for his part, indicated that American citizens were among the hundred people, civilians and soldiers, kidnapped in Israel by Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip.
Contacts at the highest level between American and Israeli officials increased after a surprise offensive launched from the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Despite the unanimity of political reactions for unconditional American support for Israel, the institutional situation is complicated for the executive, since one of the two chambers of Congress is paralyzed after the dismissal of its Republican leader last week.
Joe Biden under pressure
Nearly a year before the American presidential election, Joe Biden is under pressure from his Republican opposition, who accuse the Democrat of weakness in his defense of Israel and in his policy towards Iran.
Mr. Blinken recalled on CNN on Sunday that President Barack Obama signed an agreement with Israel in 2016 “to provide $3.8 billion in military aid per year.”
“The entire (U.S.) executive branch has engaged with the entire region, and beyond, to build support for Israel and to ensure that each country uses every means it has , all the influence he has, for a withdrawal of Hamas and to ensure that the conflict does not break out in other places,” he explained on the ABC channel.
Asked about a possible intention by Hamas to trigger hostilities in order to torpedo discussions – supported by Washington – aimed at diplomatic normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Secretary of State replied: “That could be part of the motivations. Look, who is opposed to standardization? Hamas, Hezbollah (Lebanese Shiite), Iran. So it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
The death toll from the war between Hamas and Israel rose on Sunday to 370 dead in the Gaza Strip and “more than 600” in Israel, according to the latest authorities’ reports, to which are added thousands of wounded.