Israeli Gov’t Spox: We Agreed to Ceasefire in Part to Restock, U.S. Has Had ‘Big Delays’ Sending Weapons

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer stated that one reason for the ceasefire deal it struck was to replenish its weapons supplies and “there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries” from the U.S., but Israel also wanted to focus on Iran and isolate Hamas.

Mencer said, “[I]f Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to re-arm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. And the prime minister’s made crystal clear, if it launches rockets, if it digs tunnels, if it brings in truckloads of rockets, we will attack. We all want peace in this region, no one more than Israel. But we will respond, forcibly, to any violation of this agreement.”

He added, “[T]he prime minister made clear, just before, a couple of hours ago, that the reasons why this has happened now are three reasons: It’s because we want to focus now on the Iranian threat. The prime minister didn’t want to expand on that, but we know that Iran is preparing to create a nuclear weapon. We cannot let that happen. We will always make that our number one priority, because Iran’s saying they wish to wipe this country off the face of the earth. Katy, when they say it, we believe it. And the second reason, of course, is to, yes, give our forces a breather and to replenish our stocks. And there have been big delays. The prime minister made that clear that, yes, the U.S. is our closest ally in the world. There are no two closer countries anywhere in the world, but there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. The prime minister made that clear. And these delays, we hope, will be resolved, very, very soon. But really, the third reason for this ceasefire now is to separate, as the prime minister said, the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of this war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. That was a massive miscalculation. With Hezbollah now out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own and Israel can increase our pressure on Hamas, get our hostages home, which is our sacred mission. It’s our number one priority.”

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