Foreign

Biden announces $100bn aid to Israel after killing 3308 Palestinians in Gaza

Published

1 year ago

October 19, 2023

The President of United State of America (USA) Joe Biden has announced $100bn aid for Israel after its forces killed 3,308 Palestinians in Gaza.

According to reports, no fewer than 3,308 Palestinians, including over 1,000 children and 1,417 women, have been so far killed in Gaza.

This figure included about 500 people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike at a Gaza hospital, the Palestinian Health Ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said the number of casualties at the Gaza City hospital, where many civilians had sought shelter, is expected to rise.

Reports say about 10,859 people have been injured in Gaza; while another 1,200 were reported missing in the occupied West Bank.

This is even as Israel’s strikes and blockade are pushing Gaza’s essential services and resources to the brink of collapse, with attendant humanitarian crisis.

The relentless bombings of Gaza by Israel have caused widespread destruction to schools and hospitals and displaced nearly a million people, with aid agencies warning of a “catastrophic” shortage of medical supplies in the besieged enclave.

Justifying its brutal assault in the wake of Hamas attacks on October 7 that left at least 1,300 Israelis dead, Israel has since cut off water, power and fuel supplies and trapped 2.3 million people.

Similarly, 59 people were reportedly killed in the occupied West Bank and 1,000 others, including minors, missing under rubble.

The Gaza Strip is home to 2.3 million people and the United Nations has put the figure of the displaced so far at 1 million, including 84,000 pregnant women, 10 per cent of whom are expected to give birth in a few months’ time.

On the flip side, 1,400 Israelis have been reportedly killed with 3,500 injured; while 70 are being detained. Also, 250 victims are said to have been abducted by Hamas, among them 10 UK citizens and 20 US citizens.

Meanwhile, Biden during a visit to Israel where he met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was committed to the decades-old US promise to ensure its ally has a “qualitative edge” over adversaries on the battlefield.

“We’re going to make sure you have what you need to protect your people, to defend your nation,” Biden said.

“Later this week, I’m going to ask the United States Congress for unprecedented support package for Israel’s defence,” he said.

While Israel enjoys strong support in the US Congress, a growing number of lawmakers from the rival Republican Party have voiced doubts about billions of dollars in military support to Ukraine against Russian invaders.

A source familiar with the talks told AFP that Biden would propose a joint $100 billion package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

The package is intended to bypass congressional chaos and bring Democrats, who have sought additional aid for Kyiv for weeks, together with Republicans, who want funds to tighten controls on the southern border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Congress in September in a bid to persuade Republicans to keep the aid flowing.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he would be working to approve an aid package for Israel “hopefully within the next few weeks”.

The package would include military, humanitarian, intelligence and diplomatic help, he said.

Tensions have also risen in recent months over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims and has not ruled out seizing by force.

The official US position on intervention is one of ambiguity, with the United States — which only recognises Beijing — focusing on providing weapons to Taiwan for its own self-defence.

Biden has said he would back sending US forces to defend Taiwan.