New fissures in the US-Israel alliance. Washington halted a transfer of bombs to Israel following the Rafah assault

US President Joe Biden’s administration halted an arms shipment to Israel last week, a move that underscores Washington’s opposition to Israel’s decision to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, Reuters and AFP cited .

President Joe Biden has tried unsuccessfully in recent weeks to prevent a full-scale Israeli assault on Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge from the fighting, fleeing other areas of Gaza.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that as Israeli leaders appeared to be nearing a decision on a raid on Rafah, “we have begun to look carefully at proposed transfers of certain weapons to Israel that could be used in the city”, starting from April.

“As a result of this review, we stopped a weapons shipment last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (227-kilogram) bombs,” the official said.

“We are particularly focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban environments, as we have seen elsewhere in Gaza. We have not made a final decision on how we will proceed with this shipment,” the official added.

The US State Department is also looking into other arms transfers, including the use of precision bombs known as JDAMs (guided munitions), the official added, quoted by AFP.

Four sources said the shipments, which have been delayed for at least two weeks, involved Boeing-made common direct attack munitions, which convert conventional bombs into precision-guided bombs, as well as small-diameter bombs.

The delay comes as Washington publicly pressures Israel to delay its planned offensive in Rafah until it takes steps to avoid civilian casualties.

The White House and Pentagon declined to comment.

The US assures that it supports Israel

On Tuesday, the Israeli army deployed tanks to Rafah (south), took control of the border crossing with Egypt and closed the two main access points for humanitarian aid (Rafah and Kerem Shalom), a measure considered “unacceptable” by United States.

Without officially announcing whether there had been a holdup in arms shipments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security is “ironclad.”

However, when asked about the reports of the suspension of arms deliveries, she added: “Two things could be true in terms of having these conversations, tough and direct conversations with our counterparts in Israel, to make sure that citizens’ lives are protected and to obtain this commitment”.

One thing is for certain, this arms transfer delay is the first since the Biden administration offered its full support to Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people.

Republicans criticize the decision

Republicans criticized the Biden administration’s decision. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday denounced any measure aimed at limiting military aid to Israel.

“Just when we thought only university presidents were giving in to the absurd demands of pro-Hamas students, the president himself has now halted the supply of ammunition to Israel,” Johnson told reporters before the official US announcement.

Israel’s war to eliminate Hamas has killed a total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

The conflict has also left many of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents on the brink of starvation and sparked protests in the US and other parts of the world.

A senior Israeli official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, declined to confirm a suspension of arms deliveries. “As the Prime Minister has already said, if we have to fight tooth and nail, then we will do what we have to do,” he added.