The United States has already begun sending ammunition and military equipment that Israel desperately needs, and the Pentagon is reviewing its stockpiles to see what else it can soon send to bolster its ally in the war against Hamas, a senior Defense Department official reported on Monday, according to the AP agency.
The planes have already taken off, said the official, who declined to comment on the type of weapons.
The official said the United States is “flooding” the area with calls and other messages to let extremist groups and other nations know that they should not question the American commitment to support Israel’s defense. However, he did not comment on whether US forces would intervene.
Although the official said Washington is capable of meeting Ukraine and Israel’s weapons needs and maintaining security on its own territory, the urgent supply of ammunition for the new conflict has raised concerns.
Congress must quickly approve new funding so that the United States can supply both Israel and Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Monday.
“The goal is to support Israel,” he said. “But particularly for munitions and the ability to support Israel and Ukraine simultaneously, additional funding is needed to increase our ability to scale up production and then also pay for the munitions,” he said, according to the AP report.
The agency noted that it is clear that the government is now faced with the possibility of Israel and Ukraine submitting simultaneous requests for additional weapons.
And while there is strong bipartisan support in Congress for providing aid to Israel, the next steps remain uncertain with the House lacking a speaker following the impeachment of Republican Kevin McCarthy and the Senate not reconvening until next week.
It is also uncertain whether the debate over providing additional aid to Ukraine (something a group of Republicans opposes) will complicate efforts to approve aid to Israel.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, Wormuth said the administration was still “in the early stages of the process of assessing our ability to meet the needs” of the Israeli armed forces.
He didn’t go into details, but Doug Bush, the Army’s undersecretary for acquisition, told reporters at the conference that discussions were already underway about what the United States could provide. He noted that it would likely involve a wide range of equipment, from small arms to sophisticated ammunition, the AP reported.
Most weapons already shipped to support Ukraine have left military and defense contractor stockpiles at a pace that has strained the global supply chain. And while the Army has recently ramped up production of some key product lines, such as 155mm shells for howitzers, they are still not operating at full capacity.
With a looming ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ surprise attack over the weekend, Army commanders expressed concerns Monday about the ability to meet additional ground munitions needs and said Congress must act quickly to provide timely assistance.