Biden admin plans $1bn in new arms for Israel despite Rafah threat

US President Joe Biden’s administration informed Congress on Tuesday of a $1 billion weapons package for Israel, official sources told AFP, a week after threatening to withhold some arms over concerns of a Rafah assault.

The administration informally notified the weapons package to Congress, which will need to approve it, a US official said, while a congressional aide who also requested anonymity said the weapons bought from US weapons makers amounted to around $1bn.

The weapons would come out of a major $95bn package recently approved by Congress in defense support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and the Biden administration has repeatedly said it planned to go ahead and appropriate the funds through purchases from US manufacturers.

But the deal comes a week after Biden warned he may withhold bombs and artillery shells to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went ahead in defiance of US warnings with an assault on Rafah.

Congress could still block the weapons sale to Israel, with left-leaning members of Biden’s Democratic Party outraged by the toll on civilians in the Gaza onslaught.

But the overall package passed despite opposition from the left, with the rival Republican Party almost unanimously in support of arms for Israel.