Israel – Gaza: US says it has stopped sending bombs to the Israeli army and Biden warns against a major military operation in Rafah

The United States stopped a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would carry out a major ground operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, a senior official in Washington said.

The shipment consisted of 1,800 900-kilogram bombs and another 1,700 230-kilogram bombs, the official revealed to CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US.

Israel has not “fully addressed” US concerns about the humanitarian needs of civilians in the border town in southern Gaza, added the official, whose identity was not disclosed.

“The position of the United States has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are taking refuge with nowhere else to go,” he said.

Israel’s response came this Thursday: “It is very disappointing,” said its ambassador to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden warned Israel this Wednesday that the United States will stop supplying some weapons if it finally launches the large-scale offensive in the city where more than a million displaced Palestinians take refuge.

“If they enter Rafah, I will not provide you with weapons that have been used historically in Rafah,” he said during an interview with CNN.

He added that he “will continue to ensure that Israel is safe.”

Biden acknowledged that Israel has used American weapons to kill civilians in Gaza, but considered that his ally still has not crossed “a red line.”

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, responded to Biden’s threat to cut off supplies.

“It is a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war,” Erdan told Israeli public broadcaster Kan radio.

“If Israel is restricted from accessing an area as important and central as Rafah, where there are thousands of terrorists, hostages and Hamas leaders, how exactly are we supposed to achieve our objectives?” he added.

Biden’s comments are his strongest warning to date against a possible ground invasion of Rafah, and the first time he has suggested that the United States could stop arms shipments to Israel.

However, despite warnings from its American partner, Israel appears ready to carry out a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

Overnight, there were more air raids Israelis in the Gaza Strip, hours after the army, backed by tanks, took control of the key Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

Israeli bombing has been particularly intense around Rafah. Local doctors say Seven members of a family were killed during one of the night attacks.

Rafah, the only crossing between Gaza and non-Israeli territory, has been a key entry point for humanitarian aid and the only exit for people who were able to flee since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last October.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered tens of thousands of civilians to begin evacuating areas near the east of the city of Rafah, ahead of what it called a “limited” operation to eliminate Hamas fighters and dismantle its infrastructure.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach a ceasefire continue, along with the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

In Cairo, the delegations of Israel and Hamas negotiations will resume through mediators.

“We have been engaging in 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 against Hamas there differently than they have done in other parts of Gaza,” said one US official this Tuesday.

“Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. When Israeli leaders appeared to be approaching a decision point on such an operation, we began carefully reviewing proposals for particular arms transfers to Israel that could be used in Rafah. This began in April”.

“As a result of that review, last week we stopped a shipment of weapons,” the official added to CBS.

He clarified that they are especially focused on the final use that the 900 kilo bombs will have and the impact they could have on urban centers with high density of population.

“We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment,” he said.

The official added that “for certain other cases at the State Department, including JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) kits, we are continuing the review. None of these cases involve imminent transfers; they are future transfers.”

The shipments, he reported, were not related to the historic US$ military aid package17,000 million approved in Aprilbut had been withdrawn from “previously allocated funds.”

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage.

More than 34,780 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry.

A deal reached in November allowed Hamas to release 105 hostages in exchange for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says 128 hostages are missing, 34 of whom are presumed dead.

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