UNITED NATIONS, Sept 13 (IPS) – As the devastating 11-month conflict in Gaza continues to escalate, with more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, and over 92,000 wounded in retaliation for 1,200 deaths in Israel last October, Israelis continue to oppose the United States, which continues its uninterrupted supply of heavy weapons to Tel Aviv.
There are two hard lessons in this conflict. Perhaps Israel needs to realize that you can’t keep biting the hand that feeds you, while the Biden administration needs to realize that you can’t keep feeding the mouth that bites you.
The world’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are usually categorized as nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons. But the U.S.-supplied rockets and 2,000-pound bombs dropped on Gaza are best described as weapons of civilian destruction (WCDs) that have also reduced cities to rubble.
On September 11, the New York Times published an article about the latest killings of civilians, titled “Israel Kills Gaza Residents as Its Air Force Strikes Humanitarian Zone”
The Times quoted Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, as identifying a fragment found in the most recent Gaza bombing as “the tail section of a SPICE-2000 kit, a precision-guided kit used with 2,000-pound bombs. If Israel is accused of genocide and war crimes, where does the U.S. fit in as the primary supplier of weapons that are killing all these civilians?
And on August 13, as the killings of civilians continued unabated, the Biden administration formally notified Congress of its plan to authorize the sale of a staggering list of weapons to Israel, including:
Sales of $18.8 billion 50 F-15 fighter jets and related equipment; Sales of up to $774 million 32,739 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment; Sales of $583 million of Family of medium tactical vehicles (FMTV)s and related equipment; $102 million in sales of 30 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment; and sales of 50,000 units worth $61 million M933A1 120mm high explosive mortar rounds and associated equipment.
In June 2024, Reuters reported reported that the government had transferred at least 14,000 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-busting bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small bombs, and other munitions.
Dr Ramzy Baroud, journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, told IPS: “For Israel to be able to commit its genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, it needs a large and constant supply of weapons. Most of these weapons come from the United States.”
“In fact, after more than 11 months of Israeli genocide and based on numerous reports from international organizations, we know exactly how American bunker destroyers and other weapons and ammunition intended for mass murder were used,” he stressed.
And yet the US continues to supply Israel with all the bombs and missiles it needs to carry out the most lethal forms of violence against Palestinians, including those living in refugee camps, UN schools, hospitals and other areas designated as “safe zones.”
But US support for Israel cannot be limited to arms supplies, Dr. Baroud said, because Washington remains Israel’s strongest supporter and defender at international institutions, including the UN Security Council. This blind and unconditional support has emboldened Israel to continue the most despicable genocide against an innocent and besieged country.
Even Biden’s so-called “ceasefire proposal” from last May was reportedly communicated on Israel’s behalf, but was then, strangely, also rejected on Israel’s behalf.
There is no other interpretation possible: the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza is being carried out jointly by Israel and the United States, said Dr. Baroud, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). www.ramzybaroud.neT
According to a report from Cable News Network (CNN) earlier this week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called for “fundamental changes” in the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank following the killing of an American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during a protest last week.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the killing of Eygi. “”I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the shooting was “completely unacceptable.”
Biden called for “full accountability” for her death after Israel “admitted its responsibility.” Israel, he added, “must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”
As an old Middle Eastern saying goes: The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
Is this a reflection of the unbridled power of the Israel lobby in the US Congress, which former Republican US presidential candidate Pat Buchanan called “Israeli-occupied territory”? Is this now also the White House?
Unfortunately, there will be no accountability for the killing of the American-Turkish activist, Dr. Baroud stressed. “We know this for a fact, because there has never been a precedent in history where the US has held Israel accountable for anything.”
The family of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was deliberately run over by an Israeli army bulldozer, knows better than anyone how frivolous American language can be in such situations.
The US speaks of “accountability,” “responsibility,” “full investigations,” but ultimately accepts the Israeli narrative as the truth. More recently, the US used similar language after the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, before reverting to accepting the Israeli narrative that her killing was not intentional and not part of a larger policy of targeting civilians.
It is frustrating, but not surprising, that the US would use the above language at a time when more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, thousands more are missing and tens of thousands have been wounded, he said.
According to Dr. Baroud, not only has there been no accountability, but the US continues to provide Israel with the murder weapon so it can continue its genocide of Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the deaths of at least 18 people, including children, women and six UNRWA staff, in Israeli airstrikes on a school serving as a shelter in Nuseirat on September 11.
This incident brings the number of UNRWA personnel killed in the conflict to 220. The IDF stated that they had attacked a command and control center in the compound. This incident must be investigated independently and thoroughly to ensure accountability. The continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza is unconscionable. Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must be protected and their essential needs met. The Secretary-General calls on all parties to refrain from using schools, shelters or the areas surrounding them for military purposes. All parties to the conflict have the obligation to comply with international humanitarian law at all times. The Secretary-General also reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This horrific violence must stop, he stated.
According to an October 2023 report by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, steadfast support for Israel’s security has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for every U.S. administration since the presidency of Harry S. Truman.
Since its founding in 1948, the United States has provided Israel with more than $130 billion in bilateral assistance, aimed at addressing new and complex security threats, closing Israel’s capability gaps through security assistance and cooperation, increasing interoperability through joint exercises, and helping Israel to Qualitative military advantage (QME).
Thanks to this assistance, the Israeli military has become “one of the most capable and effective militaries in the world.” Israel’s military industry and technology sector has also become one of the world’s largest exporters of military capabilities.
Israel has also been designated as an American Major non-NATO ally under U.S. law. This status provides foreign partners with certain advantages in defense trade and security cooperation and is a powerful symbol of their close relationship with the United States.
Thalif DeenSenior Editor, UN Bureau, Inter Press Service (IPS), is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services; Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International; Military Editor, Middle East/Africa at Jane’s Information Group, US; and former UN Correspondent for Jane’s Defense Weekly, London.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service