US said readying to approve new $1 billion arms package to Israel

According to WSJ, aid would include thousands of 1,000-pound bombs as well as armored bulldozers; Trump set to halt funds to UNRWA, exit UN Human Rights Council

Israeli military bulldozers are seen during a military raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Israeli military bulldozers are seen during a military raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Washington is preparing to provide weapons and military equipment to Israel to the tune of some $1 billion as part of a new package, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The newspaper said US President Donald Trump’s administration has asked Congress to approve the transfer, which will be funded through military aid money the US provides to Israel. It includes thousands of 1,000-pound bombs as well as armored bulldozers used by military engineering.

Trump recently lifted a hold put in place by former president Joe Biden on a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs for Israel. The previous administration said those arms were on hold over concerns that Israel would use them in densely populated parts of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Trump is expected on Tuesday to stop US engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council and continue a halt to funding for the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said.

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long been critical of UNRWA, accusing the agency of anti-Israel incitement and its staff of being involved in terrorist activities against Israel.

The United Nations and UNRWA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A man carries a sack of donated flour distributed by UNRWA at the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday December 3, 2024.(AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

During Trump’s first term in office, from 2017-2021, he also cut off funding for UNRWA, questioning its value, saying that Palestinians needed to agree to renew peace talks with Israel, and calling for reforms.

The first Trump administration also quit the 47-member Human Rights Council halfway through a three-year term over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. The US is not currently a member of the Geneva-based body. Under Democratic former President Joe Biden, the US was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.

A Human Rights Council working group is due to review the US human rights record in August, a process all countries undergo every few years. While the council has no legally binding power, its debates carry political weight and criticism can raise global pressure on governments to change course.

Since taking office for a second term on Jan. 20, Trump has ordered that the US withdraw from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement — also steps he took during his first term in office.

The Biden administration froze funding to UNRWA last year, upon revelations that a number of its staff actively participated in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught. US lawmakers then passed legislation barring the resumption of funding to UNRWA until next month — a directive that the Republican-controlled Congress was almost certain to extend indefinitely.

Last week an Israeli ban on UNRWA came into effect over its ties to terror organizations. UNRWA is now banned from operating on Israeli soil, and contact between it and Israeli officials is also forbidden.

The ban was passed by the Knesset in November with a wide majority, with the support of opposition parties, amid a series of revelations about employees of the agency who were actively involved in terror groups in the Gaza Strip, participation of some of its staff in the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and slaughter, and repeated use of UNRWA infrastructure for terror activities. Israel has also provided evidence that the agency’s schools incited hatred of Israel and glorification of attacks against Israelis.

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