The weapons shipment to Israel that the Biden administration decided to put on hold last week included 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs, a senior U.S. official told Axios.
The unprecedented move by the Biden administration, which was first reported on Axios last Sunday, was a way for the U.S. to signal to Israel its concern over a possible ground operation in Rafah, the senior U.S. official said.
More than one million displaced Palestinians have been sheltering in the southern Gaza City.
Flashback: Last Sunday, Axios reported that the Biden administration has put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-made ammunition to Israel.
The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said.
In recent weeks, the U.S. engaged in a dialogue with Israel about the issue of an operation in Rafah.
The U.S. wanted to discuss with Israel how it will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza, the U.S. official said.
The U.S. official added that as Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation in Rafah, the White House began in April to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah.
As a result of that review, the White House paused one shipment of weapons last week, the U.S. official said. The U.S. official said the Biden administration is especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs in Rafah because of the devastating impact they could have in dense urban settings, which was seen in other parts of Gaza.
