US suspends bomb supply to Israel over Rafah attacks | iRADIO

“We have suspended one shipment of high payload ammunition,” Austin told a US Senate hearing. He did not specify the amount of ammunition or its parameters. But he emphasized that no final decision had been made. According to media reports, the government seized a shipment of 3,500 bombs last week, about half of which are powerful bombs weighing about one ton.

“We are currently reassessing some security assistance deliveries in the short term in the context of what is happening in Rafah,” Austin said.

Behind the scenes, Israeli officials expressed strong indignation to the Americans at their move, US media reported, citing their sources. They express concern that the reduction of military support will jeopardize the negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza. In public statements, the Israelis downplayed the news of the halted delivery of bombs.

Wednesday’s development brings fresh signals of rising tensions between Washington and the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, which Israel launched in response to an attack by the Hamas terrorist movement on October 7 last year.

Israeli military operations in the densely populated area have killed thousands of civilians and contributed to a massive humanitarian crisis. US officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly voiced reservations about their Middle Eastern ally’s moves, but until last month the government was still supplying Israel with weapons.

Biden’s decision?

Israel this week stepped up its operations in the Rafah city area, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled fighting in recent months. Washington opposes a ground attack on the city, and Secretary Austin said Wednesday that the United States does not want to see “any significant fighting” there. An unnamed US official told The Washington Post that the delay in delivering the bombs was a “warning shot” to deter the Israelis from attacking.

The first information about the postponement of the delivery of weapons was brought by the Axios news website on Sunday, and on Tuesday several media outlets reported that the reason for this step was the fear of the use of the bombs in Rafah. According to the press, the matter was decided directly by President Biden, but the White House has so far refused to comment on the development.

Since the start of the war, the United States has supplied Israel with thousands of ton bombs capable of leveling entire apartment buildings and sending shrapnel hundreds of meters away. An analysis by The New York Times at the end of last year found that the Israelis used bombs of this type quite regularly, dropping some of them in the southern Gaza Strip, where they advised civilians from the north to leave.

According to the media, the current reassessment of American military support could also affect other planned deliveries in addition to the mentioned 3,500 bombs. Sources inside the government also mentioned a shipment of 6,500 kits, denoted by the acronym JDAM, which allow bombs to change their trajectory towards their intended target.

All this is happening as the US Congress awaits a report from the Biden administration on whether Israel is following international law in its campaign against Hamas. The government previously announced that it would present the long-awaited assessment to lawmakers today, but this afternoon confirmed behind-the-scenes information that the report is still not ready.

“We expect to deliver it in the very near future, in the next few days,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

CTK

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