The United States has paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an official said Tuesday, marking the first time in the conflict that President Joe Biden has squeezed military aid to the key US ally.
Washington halted the load of 1,800 2,000-lb (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-lb (226 kg) bombs after Israel had not “fully addressed” US concerns about a major ground operation, a senior administration official said.
News of the move comes as the White House blasted the “unacceptable” closure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt after Israel sent tanks in earlier Tuesday — while holding out hope for a ceasefire with Hamas.
The pausing of weapons marks the first time that Biden has acted on the warning that he gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April that US policy on Gaza would depend on how Israel treated civilians.
The US official said Biden’s administration decided on the weapons when it appeared Israel was on the verge of a major ground operation into Rafah, which Washington has strongly opposed as more than a million people are sheltering there.
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Israeli and US officials had been discussing alternatives but “those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns,” the senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah. This began in April.”
The US official said Washington was “especially focused” on the use of the heaviest 2,000-lb bombs “and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”
“We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment,” the official said.
The US State Department is still reviewing other weapons transfers, including the use of precision bomb kits known as JDAMs, added the official.
The White House said earlier that Israel had promised the military thrust into Rafah earlier Tuesday was a “limited operation” and not the feared full-scale invasion.
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