The United States will provide Israel with Iron Dome air defense systems from its stocks, a senior defense official said Tuesday. The escalation of U.S. support comes after the Biden administration’s announcement last week that it would send Israel interceptor missiles that could be fired from its existing Iron Dome systems. Israel lambasted United Nations Secretary General António Guterres over his calls for a cease-fire and other comments during a heated Security Council meeting. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that “a cease-fire right now really only benefits Hamas,” though he said that the United States does support temporary humanitarian pauses to help get aid in, and civilians out, of Gaza. “That is not the same as saying a cease-fire,” Kirby told reporters, adding that the difference was “a question of duration and scope and size.”
