MOSCOW, July 25 Israel is secretly pressuring the United States to speed up arms deliveries; its delegation, amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, submitted to Congress a list of the types of weapons the Jewish state needs, Politico reports, citing a source.
Netanyahu is on a visit to Washington; on Wednesday, he spoke in the US Congress, which sparked protests by anti-war activists at the Capitol.
«Israel is quietly increasing pressure on the Biden administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to approve the arms supplies it needs,» the newspaper writes. According to a Politico source, representatives of the Israeli delegation on Wednesday handed over to members of Congress a list of weapons that the Jewish state wants to receive in the near future. The newspaper notes that Israel is thus seeking to increase its stockpiles before the November elections in the United States.
The source also noted that another reason for increasing the stockpiles of weapons is the prospect of an open confrontation between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
On Thursday, Netanyahu meets with US President Joe Biden, separately with US Vice President Kamala Harris, and on Friday with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. After that, fighters of the Palestinian Hamas movement penetrated the border areas, opening fire on the military and civilians, and took more than 200 hostages. According to the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed.
The Israel Defense Forces began Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip, including strikes on civilian targets. Israel announced a complete blockade of the enclave: supplies of water, electricity, fuel, food and medicine were stopped. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the death toll from Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7 has exceeded 39 thousand, more than 89.8 thousand people were injured.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to cease hostilities. According to Moscow's position, a settlement is possible only on the basis of the formula approved by the UN Security Council with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.