America suspends sending a shipment of bombs to Israel News

The French news agency quoted a senior American official as saying that the United States suspended sending a shipment of bombs to Israel, after it failed to address Washington’s concerns about its plans to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. But the administration of President Joe Biden deliberately missed a deadline to submit a report on Israel’s use of American weapons.

A senior Biden administration official said on Tuesday, requesting anonymity, “Last week, we suspended the sending of one shipment of weapons consisting of 1,800 bombs, each weighing 2,000 pounds (907 kg), and 1,700 bombs, each weighing 500 pounds (226 kg),” adding: “We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment.”

The American official said that Israeli and American officials discussed alternatives to the Israeli army’s plans to invade the densely populated Rafah, “but those discussions are continuing and have not fully addressed our concerns.”

He added, “When it seemed that Israeli leaders were approaching the point of making a decision on the operation, we began a careful review of the transfers of certain weapons to Israel that could be used in Rafah.”

He explained that Washington is “particularly focused on the heavier bombs, each weighing two thousand pounds, and the impact they can have in crowded urban areas, as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”

According to the US official, the State Department in Washington is conducting a review of other weapons transfers, including the use of precision bomb kits known as JDAMs.

The Washington Post quoted a senior American official as saying that the Biden administration’s move to postpone sending two shipments of weapons to Israel in recent days aims to emphasize the seriousness of the United States’ concerns about the Rafah attack.

The newspaper quoted an American official as saying that shipments of JDAM missiles and small-diameter bombs are not expected to arrive in Israel anytime soon.

Strict commitment

For its part, Reuters quoted American sources as saying that the weapons shipments, whose delivery was delayed for at least two weeks, include joint direct attack munitions manufactured by Boeing, which convert unguided bombs into precision-guided bombs, in addition to small diameter bombs.

Without mentioning this matter, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security is “strict.”

In response to a question about reports of delays in sending weapons, she said, “There are two things that can be right, when you have those talks, the difficult and direct talks with our counterparts in Israel, and making sure that the lives of citizens are protected and that commitment is obtained.”

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) announced the day before yesterday, Monday, that there is no political decision to withhold weapons from Israel.

This appears to be the first delay since the Biden administration expressed its full support for Israel following the Hamas movement’s attack on Israeli sites and towns on October 7th.

On the other hand, a senior Israeli official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not confirm the existence of any delay in US arms supplies to Israel, but he did not seem bothered by these reports, saying, “As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, if we have to… “We fight with our nails, we will do what we have to do.”

Deliberate failure

In a related development, Reuters quoted four American sources as saying that President Biden’s administration will miss a deadline today, Wednesday, to submit a report to Congress on whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip. These results may raise fears due to its use of weapons supplied by Washington against the Strip. .

A national security memorandum known as NSM-20, issued by Biden last month, requires the State Department to submit a report to Congress by May 8 on “the reliability of Israel’s assurances that its use of American weapons does not violate laws.” American or international.

According to Reuters, the four sources reported that the US administration has notified the congressional committees that it will not meet the deadline, but it hopes to present its results within days. Two congressional aides said they had no indication that the delay was related to political concerns.

Reuters reported last month that some senior American officials did not find Israel’s assertions credible. The Reuters report, in addition to investigations conducted by external organizations such as Amnesty International, prompted some lawmakers to call on the Biden administration not to direct the report in favor of Israel.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen told reporters, “I had a lot of conversations with people in the administration, and I really urged them to make sure that this report is credible, and that it is based on the facts and the law and not based on what they would like it to be.”

Washington’s provision of military aid to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked protests across the United States demanding that universities and Biden stop supporting Israel, including sending weapons.

In Washington, many of Biden’s fellow Democrats called for a change in the long-standing US policy of providing unconditional military support to Israel.

Representative Jason Crow said that Israel’s assurances of compliance with US law were “not credible.” Crowe prepared a letter to Biden from more than 80 Democratic lawmakers saying that there is sufficient evidence that Israel violated international law and obstructed the delivery of American aid to Gaza.

Sources told Reuters yesterday that the Biden administration is delaying sending certain weapons to Israel, in a move that two sources described as a clear political message to the US ally.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press conference that the NSM-20 report has not yet been completed, but the department is working “hard” to complete it. He added, “It may be postponed a little, but we are still at this stage trying to complete it by tomorrow.”

The deadline for submitting the report comes amid fears of famine in Gaza and calls from the United States, other countries and international bodies for Israel not to launch a major attack on the city of Rafah, which Israel says is the last stronghold of fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) but also the refuge to which more than One million Palestinian civilians.

It is known that the Israeli occupation army, with American support, has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving tens of thousands martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, which necessitated the trial of Israel before the International Court of Justice, on charges of genocide.