US arms industry achieves maximum profits due to Israel's escalation of war

Published at: 03/10/2024 10:37 PM

While U.S. imperialism is doing business with its weapons, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), presented a report last Tuesday, October 1, stating that 1,000 people died in Lebanon between September 16 and 27 due to massive Israeli bombing.

The shares of the main defense companies in the United States experienced significant gains this week, amid the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, Forbes reports, the Russia Today portal reported.

It specifies that those of Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the F-35 and F-16 fighters, rose by 3.64%, to $605.86 at the end of the trading day on October 1, which became the maximum closing price since they went public.

This trend continued and during the operations of October 03 its price exceeded 609 dollars.

The stock price of RTX (formerly Raytheon) increased in a similar way, reaching almost $124 per share, which was also an all-time high.

Meanwhile, the titles of the strategic weapons and bomber manufacturer Northrop Grumman finished the day on record since approximately the beginning of January 2023: they totaled 2.99% and reached $543.88. Then, on October 3, they fell slightly to $537.5.

In that scenario, the principal investigator of the Quincy Institute for Responsible State Policy, William Hartung, said: “One wonders what the executives of these companies think about their products being used for the mass massacre in Gaza and the dangerous escalation in Lebanon.”

“For the most part, they don't talk, although they are happy to inform their investors from time to time that 'turbulence' and 'instability' mean that our 'allies' will need their products in significant quantities,” he said.

On the other hand, according to data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, cited by OCHA, a total of 1,030 people lost their lives during that period, including 87 children and 154 women.

In this regard, the international organization emphasized that the Arab country is facing the biggest escalation of the conflict since the war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, with “a devastating human cost”.

“The crisis is overwhelming resources that are already exhausted,” OCHA warned in a post made to his X account, stating that to address the humanitarian crisis, the UN, together with other organizations, will need more than 420 million dollars to provide aid to a million people in need.

Along these lines, the United Nations also reported that due to the continuous Israeli bombardments throughout Lebanon, more than one million people have been displaced, which exceeds the number recorded in 2006.

“The intense military escalation has led to massive displacements, mainly in southern Lebanon and the densely populated suburbs of southern Beirut,” according to the OCHA report.

Mazo News Team