Demands for the Pentagon to stop supplying Israel with artillery shells Politics news

A group of civil society organizations urged the US President’s administration joe biden – Yesterday, Monday – to abandon supplying Israel with artillery shells, which reflects the increasing pressure facing Washington as a result of its support for the Israeli military campaign in Gaza strip.

According to what was reported in the Washington Post, US-based relief, religious and human rights organizations have warned that providing 155 mm ammunition to the Israelis may exacerbate the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, more than 30 relief, human rights and religious organizations, including the… Oxfam America andAmnesty International The Center for Civilians in Conflict expressed concern about the plan Pentagon To supply the Israeli army with 155 mm rockets, which are artillery ammunition present in the stock of American weapons in Israel.

“Under the current circumstances, granting the Government of Israel access to these munitions would undermine the protection of civilians, respect for international humanitarian law, and the credibility of the Biden administration,” the organizations wrote in their letter. “Simply put, it is difficult to envision a scenario in which high-explosive artillery shells could be used.” 155 mm caliber in Gaza in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Commenting on what was stated in the letter, the Washington Post said that it reflects the growing public concern about the war on Gaza, and it also reflects the role that America plays in supporting that war, in which, according to the Palestinian authorities, at least 11,000 people were killed, in addition to tens of thousands. Of the wounded and hundreds of thousands of displaced.

The newspaper recalled that the Biden administration, since the October 7 operation launched by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), hastened to provide military support to Israel, the main regional ally that is the largest recipient of annual US military aid in decades, and also sent two aircraft carriers. Two American armies have arrived in the region in an attempt to prevent the conflict from escalating. Military aid provided since the attack – under Washington’s direct commercial sales program – includes small-diameter bombs and equipment for making precision-guided munitions and other munitions.

She added that American officials also promised to provide 155 mm artillery shells from a US reserve stockpile in Israel, which was specifically prepared to provide the US military with ready weapons supplies in the region and also to give Washington the ability to quickly arm Israeli forces.

It is not yet clear, according to the Washington Post, whether 155 mm shells were actually provided from this reserve to Israel, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request from the newspaper to comment on this question.

In their letter to Austin – which the newspaper said it had reviewed – the organizations pointed to the severely deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where residents struggle to obtain food, water and electricity.

The letter stated that the munitions provided to Israel “hit schools, neighborhoods, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps, killing, wounding and displacing huge numbers of civilians.”