USA withholds weapons for Israel because of radical settlers
Since the terrorist attack on Israel, violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased. The White House is "deeply concerned" about this - and, according to a media report, is now even hesitating to send rifles to the Israeli police.
According to a newspaper report, the USA is hesitating to deliver more than 27,000 rifles intended for Israel's police force. President Joe Biden's administration has concerns that the weapons could also end up in the hands of radical settlers in the West Bank, wrote the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed government officials.
Israel's previous assurances that the rifles - including the M4 and M16 models - would only remain with the police were therefore not sufficient. The US State Department has therefore demanded concrete steps to curb the violence against Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank, the newspaper continued. The USA fears that the violence in the West Bank could lead to a regional conflict.
Since terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups from the Gaza Strip murdered around 1,200 people in attacks in Israel's border region on October 7, there has been an increase in attacks in the West Bank. The violence against Palestinians there has reached an "unprecedented level", said Lynn Hastings, representative of the UN emergency aid office OCHA for the Palestinian territories, recently.
Israel's far-right police minister Itamar Ben Gvir had already declared shortly after the large-scale Hamas attack that he wanted to equip thousands of volunteers with assault rifles in the border area with the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. At a charity event this week, Biden called the minister by name in a speech, according to the Wall Street Journal, and said that he and "the new people (...) don't want anything remotely close to a two-state solution". They also wanted retaliation not only against Hamas, but "against all Palestinians", Biden added, according to the newspaper.
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The White House is reportedly hesitant to send rifles to Israel's police due to concerns that the weapons could reach radical settlers in the West Bank, as stated by the Wall Street Journal. This comes after an increase in violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, a concern shared by President Joe Biden's administration.
Source: www.ntv.de
