Democracy Dies in Darkness

U.S. pauses shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel amid Rafah rift

One U.S. official described the move as a “shot across the bow” intended to underscore the seriousness of Washington’s concerns about the looming offensive.

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Updated May 7, 2024 at 11:30 p.m. EDT|Published May 7, 2024 at 7:24 p.m. EDT
Smoke pours into the sky from Israeli military strikes in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Tuesday. (-/AFP/Getty Images)
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The Biden administration paused the shipment of thousands of weapons to Israel, including controversial 2,000-pound bombs, amid mounting concern about the country’s plan to expand a military operation in southern Gaza that could dramatically increase the conflict’s death toll, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

“Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” said a senior administration official, explaining the U.S. decision to pause the weapons shipments. “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.”