Published: 2021-05-18 09:54
Last Updated: 2024-07-13 05:08
During the early hours of Monday, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif, slammed the US administration for approving the sale of $ 735 million in arms to the Israeli Occupation, all while blocking a joint UN security council statement.
As US-made munitions rain down on innocent Palestinians, US gives another $735M in "precision" missiles to Israel to kill more children with more precision.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 17, 2021
Then US blocks the mildest possible #UNSC statement.
The world is watching as Israel & its enabler show their ugly faces. pic.twitter.com/qr8F2vDdxl
The arms sale, which US Congress was notified of May 5, a week before the current uptick of Israeli Occupation violence began in Gaza and Jerusalem, includes Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are used to turn bombs into precision-guided missiles, according the the Washington Post.
Additionally, the Human rights group, 'Amnesty International', also rejected the weapon deal, indicating the approval undermines the US commitment to upholding human rights around the world.
The group's advocacy director for the MENA region, Philippe Nassif, urged US President Joe Biden to reconsider the decision, saying, “By supplying weapons that could be used to commit war crimes, the US government is taking the risk of fuelling further attacks against civilians and seeing more people killed or injured by US weapons.”
Notably, the third UN Security Council emergency session was held Sunday, amid the uptick of Israeli Occupation violence, which ended with no concrete outcome after the US blocked a joint statement calling for immediate ceasefire between the Israeli Occupation and the Palestinian resistance groups.
The US has blocked the statements twice over the last week resolutions that would have condemned Israeli Occupation's violence and called for a ceasefire. Over 200 people, including children have been killed by the ruthless pounding of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Occupation Forces.
In turn, the UN Security Council is set to hold another emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss developments in Palestine's situation, according to the Norweigan diplomatic mission's Twitter.
"Innocent civilians are being killed and injured. We repeat: Stop hostilities now," the Norwegian mission tweet said.
For a week now, Norway, along with Tunisia and China, has made unremitting efforts in the Security Council to issue a joint statement, but any text has not yet been adopted due to US objection.