Since Blinken released his report reaffirming his trust in Israel to use his American arsenal responsibly, Israel has closed the Rafah crossing, forced more than 500,000 people out of the city, began bombing the already shattered Jabalia refugee camp again, hit a UN aid truck with a drone strike, left 20 American doctors stranded in hospital without water, and stood down as 100s of Israeli settlers and paramilitaries destroyed the supplies of a humanitarian convoy and torched two of the trucks.

In response to these fresh atrocities, Biden approved a new $1.2 billion transfer of mostly ground-based weapons  ($700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds) to Israel, which will surely come as a welcome reward as the IDF crosses another imaginary red line in its ground assault on Rafah.

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