US supplies Israel with bombs amid Gaza blitz

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> The United States has allowed Israel, waging an offensive in the Gaza Strip, to tap a local US arms stockpile in the past week to resupply it with grenades and mortar rounds, Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, has said.<br /> <br /> The munitions were located inside Israel as part of a programme managed by the US military and called War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel (WRSA-I), which stores munitions locally for US use that Israel can also access in emergency situations.<br /> <br /> Israel, however, did not cite an emergency when it made its latest request about 10 days ago, a defence official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.<br /> <br /> On Sunday, Barack Obama, the US president, called for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.<br /> <br /> Washington allowed Israel to access the strategic stockpile to resupply itself with 40mm grenades and 120mm mortar rounds to deplete older stocks that would eventually need to be refreshed.<br /> <br /> In a statement, Kirby said: "Both munitions had been in WRSA-I stock for a few years, well before the current crisis.<br /> <br /> "All stocks in WRSA-I, as required by law, are 'in excess to US requirements'.<br /> <br /> "Issuing munitions from the WRSA-I stockpile was strictly a sourcing decision and White House approval was not required.<br /> <br /> "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defence capability.<br /> <br /> "This defence sale is consistent with those objectives."<br /> <br /> Additional Israeli requests for US-manufactured ammunition were also being processed in the US, the anonymous defence official said.<br /> <br /> Israel's embassy in Washington declined comment about the resupply request, including whether it asked for the ammunition because of its operations in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported.<br /> <br /> 'Iron Dome' funding<br /> <br /> Separately, US politicians were working in Congress to provide millions of dollars in additional funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" missile shield.<br /> <br /> The US Senate Appropriations Committee added $225m for Iron Dome to a spending bill intended mainly to provide money to handle an influx of thousands of Central American children across the US-Mexico border.<br /> <br /> The Gaza Health Ministry said 1,361 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8.<br /> <br /> On the Israeli side, 56 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.<br /> <br /> Source: Al Jazeera and agencies<br /> <br /> <div> <br /></div> </div>

US supplies Israel with bombs amid Gaza blitz

The United States has allowed Israel, waging an offensive in the Gaza Strip, to tap a local US arms stockpile in the past week to resupply ...

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