US paused shipment of weapons to Israel to head off Rafah invasion-official By Reuters

Written by Mike Stone, Steve Holland and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The administration of US President Joe Biden halted an arms shipment to Israel last week in objection to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, a senior US administration official said on Tuesday.

Biden is trying to avoid a large-scale attack by the Israelis on Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge to escape fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that while Israeli leaders appear to be close to making a decision on the Rafah incursion, “we have begun carefully reviewing proposed transfers of certain weapons to Israel that may be used in Rafah” starting in April.

“As a result of this review, we stopped a weapons shipment last week. It consisted of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs,” the official said.

“We are particularly focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in crowded urban areas as we have seen in other parts of Gaza. We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment,” the official said.

Four sources said the shipments, which were delayed by at least two weeks, included Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which convert dumb bombs into precision-guided bombs, as well as small diameter bombs.

This delay comes at a time when Washington is publicly pressuring Israel to postpone its planned attack in Rafah until after it takes steps to avoid civilian casualties.

The White House and Pentagon declined to comment.

Israeli forces on Tuesday seized the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, cutting off a vital route for delivering aid to the small enclave.

Without addressing whether there were delays in arms shipments, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that Washington's commitment to Israel's security is “strict.”

However, when asked about reports of the weapons being seized, she added: “There are two things that could be right, in the sense of having those conversations, difficult, direct conversations with our counterparts in Israel… in making sure that the lives of citizens are protected… and getting that commitment. ”

The Pentagon said Monday that no political decision has been made to withhold weapons from Israel, the United States' closest ally in the Middle East.

However, the delay appears to be the first since the Biden administration offered its full support to Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others, 133 of whom are believed to still be detained in Gaza, according to Israeli figures. .

The Gaza Ministry of Health said that the campaign launched by Israel to destroy Hamas led to a seven-month military campaign that resulted in the deaths of 34,789 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians.

The conflict has also left many of Gaza's 2.3 million residents on the brink of starvation and sparked protests in the United States demanding that universities and Biden withdraw their support for Israel, including providing weapons.

A senior Israeli official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not confirm any specific delay in weapons supplies, but appeared to take the reports seriously: “As the prime minister has already said, if we have to fight with our nails,” he said. “Then we will do what we have to do.”