Thursday, July 31, 2014

As atrocities mount in Gaza, US approves Israeli request for more bombs



Smoke from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City on 29 July. (Ashraf Amra / APA images)
Hours after Israel shelled yet another UN school sheltering internally displaced families and a marketplace in Gaza, killing dozens of people, an unnamed defense department official revealed to CNN that the US had approved an Israeli request to tap into the one billion dollar weapons stockpile the US keeps in Israel.
The last time Israel dipped into the special stockpile was in 2006, during its assault on Lebanon.
Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby confirmed to the The Electronic Intifada over email that the US Department of Defense authorized a transfer of munitions to Israel on 23 July in response to a request from the Israeli defense ministry for “a normal Foreign Military Sales delivery of ammunition.”
Two of the munitions Israel demanded—120mm mortar rounds and 40mm grenades—happened to be available in the stockpile, so the US delivered them to the Israeli army from there.
“Issuing munitions from the War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel (WRSA-I) was strictly a sourcing decision,” explained Kirby. 
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2 comments:

  1. Hi TGIA. I wish I was stopping by to comment at a happier time. I feel like I am watching the Nakba in living color as this massacre plays out on my computer screen. I knew it was horrible, but to see it happening and not be able to anything to stop it is excruciating. I have been following events on Twitter as related in words, videos, and pictures by the people as they are happening and that adds a totally new dimension to the horror. I have come to know and admire many Gazans through their tweets and when they are off line I don't know if it's because they are sleeping, the power is off, or if they were killed. And the killing and bombing goes on and on and on....

    One of these tweeters has actually become very well known, and has been featured in several mainstream media outlets. They call her the Anne Frank of Gaza. She is 16 year old Farah Baker who has 4 sisters, likes photography and strawberry ice cream, and has been trapped in her house for a month knowing she could be killed at any time. Here is her twitter feed:

    https://twitter.com/Farah_Gazan

    Another hero of mine is Belal Dabour, a 25 year old doctor who has been working constantly since the beginning of the war. He is a "bookworm and night owl" and gives up to the minute information about the horror he is forced to deal with. His twitter feed is

    https://twitter.com/Belalmd12

    There are two of several feeds that help give a sense of what Israel is inflicting on these people.

    Joe_R

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  2. Hi Joe..long time no see. Very pleased to hear from you. Yes it's been, and still is, horrendous news..Agony all over again.
    I had not heard of Farah as I'm not active on Twitter but I will check out her tweets and so with Bilal. I hope all is well with you. Wish I could hear more though, if not here then on Mondo.
    Cheers

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