This decision was taken as Washington opposes a large-scale offensive prepared by Israeli troops in Rafah.
The United States suspended the delivery of a shipment of bombs last week after Israel’s failure to respond to Washington’s “concerns” over an announced offensive on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, a declared this Tuesday, May 7, a senior American official.
“We suspended the delivery of a weapons shipment last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (226 kg) bombs,” the senior military official said. administration of US President Joe Biden on condition of anonymity.
“We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment,” he added.
Discussions still ongoing
Washington has made clear that it does not support an offensive without a credible plan to protect the civilians sheltering there. Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Israeli and U.S. officials have discussed alternatives, but “those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns,” the senior U.S. official said.
“As Israeli leaders appeared to be moving closer to a decision on such an operation, we began to carefully consider proposals to transfer specific weapons to Israel that could be used at Rafah. This began in April,” explained this senior official.
He added that Washington was “particularly focused” on the use of the heaviest 2,000-pound bombs “and the impact they could have in dense urban environments like we have seen in other parts of Gaza.” .
The US State Department is also reviewing other arms transfers, including the use of precision bombs known as JDAM (remote guided bomb), the official added.
The Israeli army deployed tanks on Tuesday in Rafah (south), took control of the border crossing with Egypt and closed the two main access points for humanitarian aid (Rafah and Kerem Shalom), a measure considered ” unacceptable” by the United States.
Republicans criticized the decision. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson on Tuesday denounced any measures aimed at limiting military aid to Israel.
“Just when we thought only college presidents were giving in to the absurd demands of pro-Hamas students, the president himself has now reportedly cut off munitions shipments to Israel,” Mike Johnson told reporters before the official announcement from the United States.
