A leaked document has revealed that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump proceeded last month with a controversial arms deal to supply more than 20,000 U.S.-made assault rifles to the Israeli occupation, a deal previously frozen by former President Joe Biden due to concerns they could be used by extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank.
According to the document, reviewed by Reuters, the U.S. State Department notified Congress on March 6 that it had approved the $24 million arms package. The stated recipient of the rifles is the “Israeli police.”
Though the deal is relatively small compared to the massive annual military aid the U.S. provides to Tel Aviv, it has sparked widespread controversy—especially after the Biden administration initially blocked it over rising settler violence against Palestinians.
Biden had earlier imposed sanctions on individuals and entities involved in violent attacks in the West Bank. However, since Trump assumed office on January 20, he has reversed those sanctions through an executive order, marking a sharp departure from previous policy and greenlighting new arms deals worth billions of dollars to the Israeli occupation.
These developments coincided with a U.S. Senate vote on Thursday rejecting two resolutions introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders aimed at halting an $8.8 billion weapons deal to Israel, despite ongoing warnings about human rights violations. The resolutions were struck down by a vote of 82–15.
The U.S. government claimed it had considered political, military, economic, and human rights factors in approving the deal, though the State Department did not clarify whether any guarantees were sought from Israel regarding the rifles’ use.
Violence by settlers in the occupied West Bank has escalated dramatically since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli Ministry of National Security, under far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has ramped up efforts to arm civilian security units since the events of October 7.
Amid these developments, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate halt to all arms sales and transfers to Israel in an effort to stop further violations of international humanitarian and human rights law against the Palestinian people.
On March 2, the Israeli occupation sealed off Gaza’s border crossings, cutting off humanitarian and medical aid, causing an unprecedented deterioration in the humanitarian situation, according to reports by local and international human rights organizations.
Rights groups and UN agencies had already warned of the severe consequences of tightening the blockade, raising alarm over looming famine due to the denial of essential supplies.
Backed fully by the United States, Israel continues its campaign of genocide in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. So far, the aggression has left more than 165,000 Palestinians dead or wounded—mostly women and children—and over 11,000 reported missing.
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