Israel hits camps in Gaza as Biden OKs new weapons sales

DEIR AL-BALAH (GAZA STRIP): Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday, as the Biden administration approved a new emergency weapons sale to Israel despite persistent international ceasefire calls over mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the enclave.

The state department said on Friday that secretary of state Antony Blinken told Congress he approved a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges and primers, that is needed for 155 mm shells Israel bought previously. It marked the second time this month that the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel. The department cited the "urgency of Israel's defensive needs" as a reason for the approval.

Even a brief halt in fighting seems out of reach. A senior Hamas official said in Beirut on Saturday that the group has not budged from its position that a permanent ceasefire has to be the starting point for any further releases of Israeli and foreign hostages the group holds, which runs counter to a recent proposal by Egypt for a staged end to the war.

It's a demand Israel is bound to reject. Israel has said it will pursue its unprecedented air and ground offensive until it has dismantled Hamas, a goal viewed by some as unattainable because of the militant group's deep roots in Palestinian society. The United States has shielded Israel diplomatically and has continued to supply weapons.

Israel argues ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas, a stance shared by the US, which at the same time urged Israel to do more to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that the Palestinian death toll since the start of the war rose to 21,672, with a further 56,165 people wounded during the same period. Some of the latest deaths were reported as Israeli airstrikes targeted the urban refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij overnight and into Saturday.