THE DOUBLE FACE OF WASHINGTON IN GAZA

The United States continues to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by parachute, in collaboration with Jordan, Egypt and France. Small-scale aid in the face of the great need for food and medicine that the Palestinian population has, which continues to suffer from the devastating bombings by Israeli forces.

But at the same time, the president, Joe Biden, authorizes the shipment to Israel of large quantities of weapons and ammunition: bombs of various types, including laser-guided ones; missiles and projectiles for “Tsahal” tanks.

The Washington Post newspaper reported that only “two major military sales to Israel have been made public” since the start of the conflict: a first for $106 million for tank shells, and a second for an amount of $147.5 million for components needed to manufacture 155mm shells.

These two sales, dating from the end of 2023, had raised questions because, in both cases, the Biden administration had invoked “emergency powers” and circumvented the obligation to consult Congress, under of the law on the control of arms exports, recalls the newspaper.

But as for the 100 other transactions, referred to in American administrative jargon as Foreign Military Sales (FMS), these arms transfers do not exceed a certain amount, they have all been processed in the greatest discretion.

Without wishing to appear Machiavellian, it could be said that, on the one hand, food is sent by parachute for a few hundred people, and on the other hand, lethal munitions are sent to Israel that will cause the death of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

However, Biden, in Thursday's State of the Union speech, warned Israel not to use aid as a “bargaining chip,” while also announcing the construction of a floating pontoon in Gaza to facilitate the sending aid by sea from Cyprus.

Biden also assured that he continues to work to achieve a humanitarian pause in Gaza, but it does not seem possible that this will happen before the holy month of Ramadan, which will begin next Monday, in principle.

The talks held by the mediating countries in Cairo to achieve a ceasefire broke down in the middle of this week. Hamas stated that it withdrew “provisionally,” while Egypt assured that this attempt to reach an agreement between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement will continue in the coming days.