Topline
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday the Biden administration paused a shipment of arms to Israel last week due to concerns about an imminent full-scale invasion of Rafah—the city in southern Gaza where more than 1.2 million civilians have taken refuge—despite strong international pushback.
Palestinians are walking between damaged buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Key Facts
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed at a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday that the U.S. had paused one shipment of “high-payload munitions” to Israel, though he noted no “final determination” about the shipment has been made.
The U.S. will do what’s necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself, Austin said, but he added that the the U.S. is “reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”
Austin said the U.S. has been “very clear that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack in Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space.”
The affected shipment included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, unnamed senior Biden administration officials previously told several outlets, including the New York Times, Associated Press and Axios.
The decision was made due to concerns about the large explosives being used to carry out strikes in the densely populated city of Rafah—where more than half of Gaza’s population is believed to be sheltering, the AP report said.
According to the Times, future shipments are also under review, including conversion kits that can be added to unguided bombs to convert them into precision-guided weapons.
The Biden administration began reviewing the shipment of arms to Israel in April, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government appeared to press forward with plans for an assault on Rafah and the decision to halt the bomb shipment was made last week.
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Crucial Quote
In a statement to reporters, an administration official said Israel had not “fully addressed” their concerns regarding Rafah, and “As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah…We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”
Tangent
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Biden administration had delayed a shipment of 6,500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Israel. JDAMs are conversion kits used to transform unguided munitions into precision-guided bombs.
Key Background
On Monday, Hamas announced it had agreed to a cease-fire plan negotiated by Egypt and Qatar. The proposed deal called phased release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for a staggered Israeli withdrawal from the enclave. Israel dismissed the offer saying it failed to address its key demands. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his war cabinet unanimously agreed to “continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war.” On Tuesday, the IDF announced it had captured the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing after a “precise counterterrorism operation.” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the capture of the crossing was a limited operation and not a full-fledged invasion of the city. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million Palestinian civilians are taking refuge in Rafah.
Further Reading
US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says (Associated Press)
Biden Puts Arms Shipment to Israel on Hold Amid Dispute Over Rafah Attack (New York Times)
