The US has paused a bomb shipment to Israel over concerns over an invasion of Rafah.
The pause was made last week and prevented the shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs, according to reports citing a US official. The 2,000-pound bomb was used sparingly in the US war against ISIS, but has frequently been used by Israel in Gaza.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive matter, saying there was concern from the US about the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting. More than one million civilians are sheltering in Rafah after fleeing from other parts of Gaza amid Israel's war on Hamas, which was launched following the group's deadly October 7 attack.
READ MORE: Joe Biden under pressure to 'publicly oppose' Israel's Rafah offensive as 'humanitarian catastrophe'
Palestinians, in the east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip start to leave their homes and migrate to areas they consider safe (Anadolu via Getty Images)The Hamas-run health ministry puts the death toll at more than 34,000 dead. This figure does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
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Historically, the US has provided huge amounts of military aid for Israel, which has only accelerated in the aftermath of the October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 in Israel and led to about 250 being taken captive by Hamas. The pausing of the shipment signals a growing divide between the Israeli Prime Minister's government and Joe Biden's administration, which has called on Israel to do more to protect the lives of innocent civilians in Gaza.
Smoke billows from Israeli strikes on eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)The decision appears to be part of a running theme that there is disagreement between the Biden administration - the US has long backed Israel - and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over Israeli war strategy. President Joe Biden has called on Israel to go further in attempting to protect civilian lives in Gaza. He has also said US support for Israel is “ironclad, even when we disagree.”
In April, the Biden administration began reviewing future transfers of military assistance as Netanyahu's government appeared to inch closer to an invasion of Rafah, despite opposition from the White House. The official said the decision to pause the shipment was made last week and there had been no final decision made yet on whether that shipment would go out at a later date.
Internally displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, set up tents on the ruins of their homes after the Israeli army asked them to evacuate from the city of Rafah, in Khan Yunis (APAImages/REX/Shutterstock)Democrats in Congress insisted the Biden administration conduct a review on whether the airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on delivery of aid have violated international and US laws designed to spare civilians from the worst horrors of war. The review will deliver a formal verdict, which could add pressure on Biden to trim down the weapons and cash supplied to Israel, were a verdict to go against Israel.
In Rafah Israeli troops on Tuesday seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing in what the White House described as a limited operation that stopped short of the full-on Israeli invasion of the city that Biden has repeatedly warned against on humanitarian grounds, most recently in a Monday call with Netanyahu. Israel has ordered the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from the city.
Dozens of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are seen waiting for entry to Gaza from the Egypt's Rafah border crossing following the Israeli army announced that it has taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing (Anadolu via Getty Images)Israeli forces have also carried out what it describes as “targeted strikes” on the eastern part of Rafah and captured the Rafah crossing, a critical conduit for the flow of humanitarian aid along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Concerns have mounted privately in the White House about the unfolding situation in Rafah, however, in public administration officials have stressed they did not believe the operations had defied Biden's warnings against large-scale operation in the city.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Israel described the operation along the Gaza-Egypt border in eastern Rafah as “an operation of limited scale and duration” aimed at cutting off Hamas arms smuggling, but also said the US would monitor the fighting.
Just last month, Congress passed a $95 billion national security bill that included funding for Ukraine, Israel and other allies. The package included more than $14 billion in military aid for Israel, though the stalled transfer was not related to that measure.
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