WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has agreed to send Israel hundreds of 500-pound bombs from a shipment that the Biden administration withheld because of concerns about Israeli operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to two U.S. officials.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced in May that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah over concern for the well-being of hundreds of thousands civilians sheltering there.
The White House announced at the time that they were holding up a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs because of the president’s concerns.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration had been more concerned about the use of the larger bombs and recently agreed to fulfill Israel’s request for the 500-pound bombs in the held up shipment. The U.S. is continuing to hold up the 2,000-pound bombs, the officials said.
One of the officials said that the shipment of the 500-pound bombs is still being processed and the bombs have not yet arrived in Israel.
Israel says it has nearly defeated Hamas forces in Rafah after two months of fighting there. Before Israeli troops invaded, the city had sheltered most of Gaza’s more than 2 million people. Today it is a dust-covered ghost town.