US Blocks Transfer Of Over 20,000 Rifles To Israel Over Settler Violence

There’s been some serious mixed messaging and contradictory signals coming from the White House of late regarding Israel and the Gaza War. President Biden on Tuesday had for the first time offered criticism of Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza – even while keeping the massive defense aid flowing to Israel’s military on an unconditional basis. He said Israel risks losing the world’s support.

But even as it hands over 2,000-pound bombs and other heavy munitions, the US administration has ironically enough temporarily blocked a shipment of more than 20,000 rifles on fears the small arms could fuel more Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Most or all of the rifle shipments appear to be M-16s.

These military-grade assault rifles had been requested by the Netanyahu government from within the first week of the war, in the wake of Oct.7.

Axios writes in a fresh report, “The Israeli request was treated with caution by the Biden administration because of concerns Itamar Ben Gvir, the ultra-nationalist minister of national security who oversees the police, would distribute the rifles to extremist settlers in the West Bank, according to U.S. officials.”

A US official told the publication, “This deal isn’t moving anywhere at the moment. We need more assurances from Israel about the steps it is going to take to curb attacks by violent settlers and to make sure no new U.S. weapons will reach settlers in the West Bank.”

This week, Turkish media correspondents documented the following incident in the West Bank:

Israeli settlers on Monday confronted olive pickers in the town of Aqraba, southern Nablus, firing live rounds to intimidate and force them to leave their lands, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli occupation forces and settlers have carried out a total of 333 attacks against olive pickers since the beginning of the season in October, the agency said, citing the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

Last week, the US administration unveiled rare sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians, which bans them from traveling to the United States.

The US government has not sanctioned Israeli settlers going all the way back to the Clinton administration, but Washington has consistently condemned settler expansion in the West Bank, at least as far as public policy and rhetoric goes.

Video shows how Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, steal crops from Palestinian-owned olive trees and cut down several trees outside of Awarta, occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/QYRFfDW6Vn

— In Context (@incontextmedia) December 11, 2023

The conflict centered on Gaza has received by far most international media attention, but there’s been a parallel war raging in the West Bank. Nablus, for example, has been declared a closed military zone and is under blockade by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). An estimated more than 270 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have died in clashes with police and settlers since Oct.7.