US paused shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over potential use in Rafah incursion, US official says
CNN
The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, according to a US official.
The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, according to a US official. The shipment, which was held back last week, includes 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds. “We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza,” the official said. CNN reported over the weekend that one shipment of ammunition to Israel had been paused, but the reason was unclear. Israeli leaders have warned for weeks that an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah will occur at some point in the future, even as the US and others have publicly stated that such a ground operation should not occur. The Biden administration has called for a comprehensive plan to protect more than a million civilians sheltering in Rafah and avoid an expansion of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the coastal enclave. On Monday, Israel carried out what the US described as a “limited” operation in Rafah, taking over the border crossing with Egypt that is a vital lifeline for humanitarian aid.
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