US pauses bomb shipment to Israel over Rafah 'concerns'

WASHINGTON — The United States halted a shipment of bombs to Israel last week after it failed to address Washington's concerns over plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

"We have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb [907kg]bombs and 1,700 500-lb [226kg] bombs," the senior official in President Joe Biden's administration said on condition of anonymity.

"We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment," the official added.

Biden's administration made the decision when it appeared Israel was on the verge of a major ground operation into Rafah, which Washington has strongly opposed.

Israeli and US officials had been discussing alternatives but "those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns", the senior US official said.

“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. This began in April.”

The US official said Washington was “especially focused” on the use of the heaviest 2,000-lb bombs “and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza”.

The US State Department is still reviewing other weapons transfers, including the use of precision bomb kits known as JDAMs, added the official.

Israel said it reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza on Wednesday, four days after closing it in response to a rocket attack that killed four soldiers.

“Trucks from Egypt carrying humanitarian aid, including food, water, shelter equipment, medicine and medical equipment donated by the international community are already arriving at the crossing,” the army said in a joint statement with COGAT, the defence ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs.

The supplies will be transferred to the Gaza side of the crossing after undergoing inspection, the statement released at around 9:15 am (6:15 GMT) said.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees however said the Kerem Shalom crossing remained closed.

“The crossing is still not open,” UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP at about 10:40 am (7:40 GMT).

The military said the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza was also open for aid deliveries into the Palestinian territory.

The Kerem Abu Salem crossing was closed after a Hamas rocket attack killed four soldiers and wounded more than a dozen on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Israeli troops seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt after launching an incursion into the eastern sector of the city.

The UNRWA spokeswoman said the Rafah crossing too remained closed.

“We are calling for their reopening. We normally get fuel through Rafah not Karem Abu Salem ” Touma said.

“There’s not been humanitarian supplies for the past three days. We have started rationing fuel,” she said, adding Gaza needed 300,000 litres  of fuel a day for humanitarian purposes.

On Tuesday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the two crossings were a “lifeline” for delivering aid to Gaza.

“Through them we bring critical supplies and fuel for humanitarian use. They need to be reopened without any delay,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

Israel’s staunchest ally the United States too called for the reopening of the two crossings.