Secretary of State Marco Rubio is bypassing Congress to send yet more billions of dollars’ worth of military assistance to Israel as it renews its total blockade on aid into Gaza, sparking accusations from human rights groups that Israel is once again using starvation as a weapon of war.
On Saturday, Rubio announced that he had signed a declaration to expedite $4 billion in military assistance to Israel, vowing to “fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security.”
The announcement came just a day after the administration notified Congress of $3 billion in military assistance to Israel, including over 35,000 2,000-pound bombs, reversing the Biden administration’s pause on such weapons, and thousands of other bombs and JDAMs. Israel has used 2,000-pound bombs extensively in its genocide in Gaza, in what experts have said are likely war crimes.
This brings the total amount of military assistance the Trump administration has given to Israel so far to nearly $12 billion, Rubio said, just six weeks into Donald Trump’s second term.
The sales were approved as the Trump administration was reportedly working with Israel to reinstate its aid blockade on Gaza and endanger the ceasefire agreement as it was supposed to move into its second phase.
ABC News reported, citing an Israeli source, that the decision on aid was coordinated with Trump officials. The White House also put out a statement backing the decision, blaming Hamas for the suspension of ceasefire talks — despite Hamas saying that they were committed to moving into phase two of the originally agreed-upon plan.
The blockade, which began on Sunday, deprives Palestinians of basic needs like food, water and medicine, plunging the Gaza Strip back into some of the worst days of the genocide. This is after Israel had indeed increased the amount of aid entering Gaza amid the first phase of the captive swap deal, but still had not fulfilled all of its obligations to allow in supplies like shelter.
Human rights groups have condemned the blockade, saying that it amounts to collective punishment and a deadly continuation of Israel’s genocide.
“Israel is once again blocking an entire population from receiving aid, using it as a bargaining chip. This is unacceptable, outrageous, and will have devastating consequences,” said Médecins Sans Frontières’s emergency coordinator Caroline Seguin.
UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) head Phillippe Lazzarini suggested that Israel was using basic needs as “weapons of war” and that the blockade “threatens the lives of civilians exhausted by 16 months of brutal war.” The use of starvation and the withholding of aid as a weapon of war have been cited by human rights experts as acts of genocide by Israeli authorities.
The Trump administration’s surge of aid to Israel also comes as Trump has suspended the delivery of all aid to Ukraine — effectively lending a hand to Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, experts have said. The pause of aid to Ukraine as it defends itself against Vladimir Putin’s invasion combined with the administration’s aid to Israel is a show of its priorities and seeming willingness to lend a hand to occupying forces across the world.
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