stop the weapons to avoid the operation in Rafah –

The Biden administration has confirmed rumors in the last few hours that a shipment of weapons to Israel – 2,000 and 500 pound bombs – was blocked last week over fears they might be used in a major ground operation in Rafah. A senior US administration official told the Times of Israel that the US has had a pair of virtual meetings with senior Israeli officials in recent months to express its concerns regarding a potential operation in Rafah and to present alternatives for how Israel might strike Hamas in the city without resorting to a large-scale invasion. The talks will continue, but the White House felt they were not enough to address its concerns.

“When Israeli leaders appeared to be nearing a decision on the operation last month, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might have been used in Rafah,” the official said. This review led to the suspension last week of a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, the source said, noting that the White House was particularly concerned regarding the possible use of the 2,000-pound bombs in the Rafah area. densely populated given that most of the Palestinians overwhelmed by the war in Gaza have moved there.

The official later clarified that no final decision has been made regarding the particular shipment blocked last week. The same source seemed to confirm a news according to which the United States had delayed a transfer to Israel of JDAM, Joint Direct Attack Munition, systems capable of transforming free-fall bombs into guided bombs, clarifying however that this occurred much earlier than the shipping delayed last week. It should be remembered that the United States has just approved another $827 million in weapons and equipment to be supplied to Israel.

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