The United States plans to provide Israel with a new $1 billion in weapons and has submitted it to Congress for review

The U.S. State Department has put a $1 billion arms aid package to Israel through the congressional review process, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday (May 14), and one of the officials pointed out that the latest arms aid package includes tank shells, mortars and armored tactical vehicles. U.S. President Biden said last week that he postponed plans to send 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel because of concerns that the bombs could be used in a large-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday (May 13) that the United States will continue to provide military assistance provided in the $26 billion supplemental appropriations bill passed last month, but the White House has suspended the provision of bombs because “we do not think these bombs should be dropped in densely populated cities.” Sullivan said, “We still believe that it would be a mistake to launch a large-scale military operation into the center of Rafah, which would put a large number of civilians at risk without clear strategic gains,” and President Biden has made it clear that he would not provide certain offensive weapons if such an operation occurred, but this has not yet happened. However, Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate, said on the issue of Israel in the Senate on Tuesday that stopping aid to Israel would provide a lifeline to terrorists. “Last week, the Speaker of the House (Mike Johnson) and I wrote to the Biden administration urging it to provide specific details about which weapons were withheld and why they were withheld.” Senate colleagues urged President Biden to “take a more proactive approach to the Israelis.” The chairmen and senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee are responsible for reviewing major foreign arms sales. McConnell criticized that the Biden administration is now facing tremendous pressure from the anti-Israel left, “It is no secret”, but one thing must be absolutely clear: “If the Biden administration continues to intimidate and hinder our ally (Israel) from achieving its goal (restoring security), then part of the responsibility for Hamas’ success will likely be attributed to Washington. After Israel’s war against the militants of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas lasted for 7 months, the Gaza Strip was widely destroyed. Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to invade Rafah without protecting civilians. Since the outbreak of this war, more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah. A week ago, Biden made his first public statement on May 8, warning Netanyahu that if he insisted on a large-scale invasion of Rafah despite US warnings, the United States would stop providing relevant weapons. Biden’s support for Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian war has become a political burden for him as president, especially when he faces rising anti-Israel sentiment among young Democrats when he is running for re-election this year. In an interview with CNN on the 8th of this month, Biden admitted that bombs provided by the United States caused the deaths of Gaza civilians in Israel’s attack on Hamas, and made it clear that this was wrong, but also insisted that the United States would not give up protecting Israel’s security.