Posted on 05/08/24
| News Source: The Hill
The Biden administration recently paused an arms shipment to Israel due to concerns the country could launch a full-scale assault on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza — a move the U.S. has strongly opposed.
The shipment would have included roughly 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, a senior administration official told The Associated Press Tuesday.
More than a million civilians have sheltered in Rafah after being forced to evacuate other areas in Gaza due to the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The U.S. has voiced concerns over the Israeli military using the larger explosives in the dense and urban area.
Israeli officials scrambled over the reason behind the pause, according to Axios, which first reported the shipment delay last week.
The news comes after the Biden administration committed $26 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Israel, continuing a streak of strong support for Israel against the militant group. In a recent statement to The Hill, the National Security Council said that support hasn’t changed.
“The United States has surged billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel since the October 7 attacks, passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistance to Israel, led an unprecedented coalition to defend Israel against Iranian attacks, and will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself from the threats it faces,” a NSC spokesperson said