US threatens to halt rifle exports after Israeli minister is seen handing them to civilians: Report

The United States has reportedly warned Tel Aviv that it would not send American-made rifles after the Israeli national security minister was seen handing out such guns to civilians amidst the war with the Hamas terrorist group.

The row erupted after images shared by minister Itamar Ben-Gvir showed him distributing rifles to civilian security squads on Oct 28 (Saturday), Israel’s Haaretz outlet reported.

The images purportedly showed Ben-Gvir handing out arms at political events in Bnei Brak and El’ad—both towns near Tel Aviv in which the religious right wing dominates two towns.

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“I’m telling you, dear citizens:a handgun can save a family, a rifle can save an entire building,” Ben-Gvir was quoted as saying by Haaretz during at an event in southern Ashkelon city.

Biden admin angry with Israeli minister

According to reports, the Biden administration said that it would halt supplying arms to the country if they are used by civilians, or seen being distributed at political events.

The US government also threatened to halt an order of some 20,000 rifles purchased by the National Security Ministry from American suppliers.

“President [Joe] Biden directed his team to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, consistent with international law, and we are actively providing additional security assistance to theIsraeli Defence Forces,” a state department spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Telegraph on Sunday (Oct 29).

“Our assistance will flow quickly to meet Israel’s urgent needs,” he added

Israel has been reportedly arming volunteer security squads in view of possible unrest in Palestinian communities ever since the war with Hamas began.

US halts arms sales to other countries, except Ukraine and Israel

Notably, it comes just days after US Commerce Department suspended sales of most US-made firearms for 90 days to ensure it doesn’t “undermine the country’s interests”.

However, it made exceptions to Israel and Ukraine—who are both currently engaged in a bloody war with Hamas and Russia, respectively—and about 40 other countries that are part of an export-control agreement.

The announcement was made on late Friday (Oct 27).

However, it is not clear if the threat of not sending rifles took place before or after the commerce department’s decision.

“The review will be conducted with urgency and will enable the Department to more effectively assess and mitigate risk of firearms being diverted to entities or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities,” the Department said in announcing the pause.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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