IRIA News

The United States has halted its weapons supply to Israel over the fears that it would be used in the invasion of Rafah, the southern region in Gaza where millions of displaced Palestinians are seeking shelter from Israeli attacks.

Washington stopped the shipment of more than 1200 kilograms of bombs and explosive material to Israel due to the fears that it would be used in a ground operation in the Rafah region. The U.S. and Israel are not on the same page regarding the prospective operation. This is the first time that the Biden Administration has stepped back from providing military aid to Israel since the October 7 attacks.

So far there has not been any official confirmation about the pause in weapons supply, both the White House and the Pentagon are yet to make official comments on the situation.

The decision to halt weapon shipments is being perceived as President Joe Biden’s warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden has repeatedly emphasized on several occasions since last month that he opposes Israel’s decision to enter Rafah as it would result in thousands of civilian deaths. He said last month that the U.S. policy towards Gaza would be contingent upon Israel’s treatment of civilians.

The White House has also been criticizing Israel’s “unacceptable” closure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt following Israel’s deployment of tanks. However, there remains optimism for a ceasefire after Hamas accepted the truce proposal earlier this week.

According to some other unofficial reports, the Biden administration is also reassessing ascending additional planned shipments to Israel, including 6,500 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM). These munitions can convert conventional “dumb bombs” into precision-guided weapons.

Background

During his visit to Israel last week, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken carried out a ‘tough’ conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the possible operation in Rafah. The U.S. and other regional stakeholders, most prominently Egypt and Qatar, are trying to mature the truce deal between Israel and Hamas to initiate a ceasefire.

In a major development on Monday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators Qatar and Egypt. Israel, however, rejected the terms, saying the proposal falls short of its demands and vows to proceed with its planned Rafah offensive.

According to a document, the ceasefire proposal consists of three stages and aims to conclude Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, along with facilitating the release of Israeli prisoners held in the enclave and Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails.

Hamas said in a brief statement on May 6, 2024, that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire. Qatar’s foreign ministry said its delegation will head to Cairo to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas’s announcement about accepting the ceasefire terms met with celebrations in Gaza as Palestinians hoped it would finally bring an end to a nearly seven-month-long war in which Israel has killed at least 34,700 people in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office remarked that the ceasefire proposal did not meet Israel’s requirements. However, Israel expressed willingness to dispatch a delegation to meet with negotiators in Cairo to achieve a consensus.

UN warns invasion of Rafah risks killing thousands

The U.N. humanitarian office has declared that the Israeli military operation in Rafah would risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza and severely disrupt aid efforts across the entire region.

“It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Humanitarian Office, at a Geneva press briefing.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed no sign of ceasefire and said that it had taken “operational control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. Wael Abu Omar, a Gaza border official, said travel and the flow of aid into the Strip have “stopped completely” as a result.

Israel has issued repeated warnings of a potential operation targeting Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. This area is home to approximately a million displaced individuals who have sought refuge after months of Israeli airstrikes, prompted by a cross-border attack by Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023.