The US last week paused a bomb shipment for Israel over concerns it was going ahead with a major ground operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, a senior administration official says.
The paused shipment included 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 lbs (907 kg) each and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 lbs, as reported by CBS News, the BBC’s media partner in the US.
The official mentioned that Israel has not sufficiently addressed US concerns regarding the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah.
Israel did not immediately respond to these developments.
Meanwhile, intense Israeli air strikes continued in the Gaza Strip overnight, following Israeli forces, supported by tanks, taking control of the crucial Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt. The bombardment around Rafah has been especially severe, with local medics reporting that seven members of a single family were killed in one of the strikes overnight.
Rafah has been an essential point for aid entry and the only exit route for people fleeing since the war between Israel and Hamas began last October.
On Monday, the Israeli military instructed tens of thousands of civilians to start evacuating the eastern parts of Rafah city, in preparation for what it described as a “limited” operation to target Hamas fighters and dismantle infrastructure.
Negotiations for a ceasefire, which also include discussions on the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, are ongoing. Delegations from Israel and Hamas are expected to resume talks in Cairo through mediators.
“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 White House administration official said.
“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.
“As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000lb bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs. We are especially focused on the end-use of the 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 unnamed official added that “for certain other cases at the State Department, including JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] kits, we are continuing the review. None of these cases involve imminent transfers – they are about future transfers”.
The official stressed that the shipments were unrelated to last month’s landmark $17bn military aid package, but had been drawn from “previously appropriated funds.”
Israel initiated a military operation in Gaza aimed at dismantling Hamas following the group’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and over 250 hostages being taken.
Since the onset of the conflict, the Gaza-based Hamas-run health ministry reports that more than 34,780 people have been killed in Gaza.
In November, an agreement was reached whereby Hamas released 105 hostages in exchange for a week-long ceasefire and the release of about 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention. According to Israel, there are still 128 hostages unaccounted for, with 34 presumed deceased.