A Pentagon official stated on Tuesday that the US has not discussed halting weapons shipments to Israel amid ongoing communications between Washington and Tel Aviv.
In a statement to Sky News Arabia, the official clarified that Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin “never hinted at a weapons ban” during his talks with Israeli officials.
This follows an earlier report by Israel’s Channel 12, which claimed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had issued a warning to Israel, suggesting that Washington may reconsider its weapons supply if humanitarian conditions in Gaza don’t improve within 30 days.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to Israel. In a statement, the US Department of Defence confirmed that components of the THAAD system began arriving in Israel on Monday, with full operational capacity expected soon.
The statement added that an advance team of US military personnel and initial components arrived on October 14, with additional personnel and THAAD components expected to continue arriving over the next several days.
