A shipment of two types of precision bombs to Israel remains in limbo after being paused by the U.S. in opposition to Israeli forces’ operation in Rafah.
The shipment contains 1,800 2,000-pound bombs, and 1,700 500-pound bombs the Biden administration has said may be used in Rafah.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed the shipment of bombs was paused, though the future of the shipment remains undetermined.
“We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment,” Ryder said.
BIDEN VOWS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS FROM ISRAEL IF NETANYAHU GOES FORWARD WITH RAFAH INVASION
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, May 7. (AP/Ramez Habboub)
A U.S. official said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the U.S. position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where over a million people are currently sheltering.
“We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza,” the official continued. “Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. 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.”
Following this review, the U.S. decided last week to pause shipment of the bombs, according to the official, who said the administration is “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.”
MANY ISRAELIS FEEL ‘BETRAYED’ FOLLOWING BIDEN THREAT TO WITHHOLD ARMS TO DEFEAT HAMAS IN RAFAH
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Thursday the U.S. was undecided on what to do with a shipment of bombs to Israel placed on hold due to the country’s operation in Rafah. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The official also emphasized that these shipments do not have anything to do with theIsrael supplemental appropriationspassed last month.
The statement from the U.S. official comes after two Israeli officials told Axios that U.S.-manufactured ammunition to Israel was paused last week for the first time since Hamas’Oct. 7 attackagainst the Jewish state.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had gained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing after troops began a “precise counterterrorism operation” in eastern Rafah aimed at killing Hamas terrorists and dismantling “Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah.”
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.
