US arms shipment delayed due to Gaza conflict
Pentagon says plan to ship munitions from Greek port to US stockpile in Israel canceled due to safety concerns at final destination related to fighting
The US Navy's Military Sealift Command issued a tender on December 31 for a ship to deliver 325 standard 20-foot containers of ammunition on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.
Air Force Lt.-Col. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Greek port had been considered as a possible location from which to transfer ammunition from a larger ship coming from the United States.
But the request to shippers had now been canceled due to safety concerns at the final destination related to the conflict in Gaza, Ryder said. Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip seeks to halt rocket fire by Hamas militants aimed at southern Israel.
"The trans-shipment ... via the Greek port of Astakos will not take place," Ryder said.
"I can confirm that the US munition shipment has been delayed and that EUCOM (US European Command) is developing an appropriate course of action to deliver the items to the US stockpile in Israel," he said.
"I have no information to provide on timelines or possible routes for obvious reasons of operations security."
The Pentagon said on Friday the shipment was intended only for the US stockpile and not to provide ammunition to Israel, a close US ally and major buyer of US military equipment, for the conflict in Gaza.
The US military hired a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel. Ryder said that shipment was also for the US stockpile in Israel.
