US suspends bomb deliveries to Israel after it invades Gaza City Rafah / Article

“Last week, we intercepted one weapons shipment,” the official said, explaining that the shipment included 1,800 bombs weighing 907 kilograms each and 1,700 bombs weighing 226 kilograms each. “We have not fully decided what to do with this shipment,” the official added.

US President Joe Biden’s administration made the decision amid revelations that Israel was preparing to launch a major ground operation in Rafah, which Washington strongly opposes.

Israeli and U.S. officials discussed alternatives, but “those discussions are ongoing and have not fully resolved our concerns,” the U.S. official said.

“As Israeli leaders appeared to be getting closer to deciding on such an operation, we began looking closely at transferring specific weapons to Israel that could be used in Rafah. That began in April,” the official explained.

The official said Washington paid particular attention to the use of heavier bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban environments. The US State Department is also evaluating the transfer of other weapons to Israel, including the delivery of JDAM bombs, the official added.

Israel sent tanks to Rafah and seized a border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, but the White House said earlier that Israel had promised a “limited operation”.

CONTEXT:

On October 7, 2023, “Hamas” carried out a massacre in Israel, murdering around 1,200 people, the absolute majority of whom were civilians. About 250 more people, including women, children and old people, were taken hostage by the terrorists and taken to the Gaza Strip.

Israel responded with a military operation in the Gaza Strip, and also increased its presence in the West Bank, promising to destroy the terrorist group Hamas.

So far, more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, have died in the Gaza Strip, according to data from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and the UN has warned of the growing threat of famine there.

The international community, including a number of Israel’s allies, have repeatedly pointed out Tel Aviv’s disproportionate response to the terrorist attack, but the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fight for the elimination of “Hamas” in the Gaza Strip.

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