We paused shipment of bombs for Israel over Rafah concerns, U.S. says

The United States has paused a bomb shipment for Israel over concerns it was going ahead with a major ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior America administration official said.

The shipment consisted of 1,800 2,000lb (907kg) bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs, the official told the BBC.

Israel has not “fully addressed” United States concerns over humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, the official said.

An Israeli military official appeared to play down the move.

The delayed arms shipment comes as America President, Joe Biden, faces mounting domestic pressure from Democratic lawmakers and some parts of the United States public to rein in Israeli operations in Gaza amid rising civilian deaths and a worsening humanitarian situation.

Despite firm and vocal U.S. opposition, Israel appears poised to mount a large-scale invasion of Rafah, a congested part of southern Gaza that is Hamas’ last major stronghold in the territory.

United States officials have warned that an operation in the city, where the population has swelled with refugees from other parts of Gaza, could lead to extensive civilian casualties.

IDF spokesman, Daniel Hagari, told a news conference that America had provided “unprecedented” security assistance since the beginning of the war, adding that disputes between the allies were resolved “behind closed doors in a matter-of-fact way”.

But a leading member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in Israel told BBC’s Newshour yesterday that he believes United States domestic political considerations are behind the decision to halt the delivery of bombs.

“I totally disagree that the American election has nothing to do with it,” said Boaz Bismuth, a member of both the Israeli parliament and the foreign affairs and defense committee.

The weapons being held back by the United States are related to a future delivery, so it is unlikely to have any immediate impact. But given the rate at which Israel is bombing it will likely affect future strikes fairly soon.

Overnight, there were further Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, hours after Israeli forces backed by tanks took control of the Palestinians side of the key Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

The Israeli bombardment was particularly intense around Rafah. Local medics said seven members of one family were killed in one strike.

Rafah has been a key entry point for aid and the only exit for people able to flee since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last October.

The crossing remained closed yesterday morning, but the Israeli military said it was reopening the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, which had been closed for four days because of Hamas rocket fire.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered tens of thousands of civilians to begin evacuating nearby eastern parts of Rafah city, ahead of what it called a “limited” operation to eliminate Hamas fighters and dismantle infrastructure.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to reach a ceasefire, alongside the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. In Cairo, delegations from Israel and Hamas have resumed negotiations through mediators.

After refusing to confirm or deny reports of delayed weapons shipments over two days, an American official on Tuesday finally confirmed that at least one shipment of bombs was delayed this week.

“The US position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” the senior Washington administration official said on Tuesday.

“We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza.

“Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. 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.