The United States has suspended the shipment of certain types of heavy bombs to Israel and US President Joe Biden has also pledged to suspend the supply of certain offensive weapons and artillery shells to the country if he continues his assault on the town of Rafah, the far south of Gaza. .
Here’s what we know so far.
What is the United States saying?
Biden issued the warning, perhaps the strongest yet against Israel, during an interview with CNN on Wednesday. In the same interview, he also said the United States would continue to provide defensive weapons such as Iron Dome interceptors, underscoring its continued support for Israel’s defense.
U.S. officials said Wednesday that the United States had suspended the shipment of heavy bombs, including 1,800 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (227 kg) bombs.
Washington-based news outlet Politico reported that the weapons withheld also include Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which are guidance kits that convert “dumb” bombs dropped during a ballistic trajectory into free fall in precisely guided “smart bombs”. .
Zoran Kusovac, a military analyst, explained: “The stupid bomb – basically you drop it from the plane and it falls pretty much the same way it did in World War I and World War II and Vietnam.
“Smart bombs have additional elements: they have an intelligent nose that seeks out the target. And it identifies it and they have the smart back that basically guides the bomb to the target or gives it extra power to travel longer distances.
These weapons were part of an earlier delivery to Israel, approved before the recent supplemental aid package authorized by the US Congress in April, which allocated $26.38 billion to Israel, including $9.1 billion to humanitarian purposes.
During a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States was reviewing short-term security assistance to Israel amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Rafah.
“We have been very clear…from the beginning that Israel should not launch a major attack on Rafah without considering and protecting the civilians who are in that battle space,” Austin said.
How much damage can heavy bombs cause?
If detonated, a 500-pound bomb can seriously injure or kill anything within a 20-meter (65-foot) radius. A 2,000-pound bomb has a kill radius of 35 meters (115 feet), according to the Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA), which conducts research and analysis on defense policy.
Depending on the type of surfaces it hits, a 500-pound bomb can create a crater an average of 25 feet (7.6 meters) in diameter and 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) deep. A 2,000-pound bomb will create a crater 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter and 16 feet (5 meters), according to the PDA.
A 2015 report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states of the 2,000-pound bomb: “The pressure of the explosion can rupture lungs, burst sinus cavities and tearing off limbs hundreds of meters from the explosion site. »
Israeli forces used 2,000-pound bombs on the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31, according to an analysis by the Guardian and the New York Times. Two impact craters estimated to be 40 feet (12 meters) wide have been identified.
Is it legal for Israel to use these bombs in Gaza?
Aerial bombardments of densely populated areas are not explicitly illegal under international humanitarian law. However, civilians cannot be targeted for bombing and civilian casualties must be “proportionate” to a specific military objective. Both Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Hague Convention of 1907 establish these rules. Israel is a signatory to both.
If the number of civilian casualties is not proportionate and is “clearly excessive” in relation to any direct military benefit, then the attack is considered a war crime under the statute of the International Criminal Court, which investigates war carried out by Israel against Gaza.
How did Israel react to Biden’s statement on offensive weapons deliveries?
Israel says its only interest is destroying Hamas and that it does not target Palestinian civilians. He claims to take all precautions to avoid unnecessary losses. He justified his assault on Rafah by claiming that the city is home to the last battalions of Hamas. However, more than a million civilians have sought refuge there following Israeli bombardments on other parts of the Gaza Strip over the past seven months.
On Thursday, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Israeli public radio Kan: “This is a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful for the start of the war. »
Erdan said Biden’s warning would strengthen the positions of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.
“If Israel is not allowed to enter an area as important and central as Rafah, where thousands of terrorists, hostages and Hamas leaders are located, how exactly are we supposed to achieve our goals? he said.
How much military aid does the United States provide to Israel?
The United States sends Israel approximately $3 billion annually, most of which is provided in the form of foreign military financing (FMF).
The United States has historically provided substantial foreign aid to Israel; a total of $297 billion (adjusted for inflation) between 1946 and 2023, including $216 billion in military aid and $81 billion in economic aid, according to data from the United States International Assistance Agency (USAID). ). Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since its creation.
After the Hamas attack on October 7, the United States sent naval vessels such as guided missile cruisers armed with naval guns and destroyers to Israel, as well as munitions worth $2 billion. dollars.
Israel is dependent on US military aid due to a global ammunition shortage following the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Israeli business daily Calcalist reported, adding that although the Israeli military has avoided admitting it publicly , Major General Eliezer Toledano admitted in March. that the army reduces air attacks in order to “better manage the arms economy”.
Military analyst Zoran Kusovac said: “Israel spent its bombs from the beginning at a very, very high rate. Analysts still believe that Israel cannot maintain the initial pace of bombing and that at some point this actually happens. »
Has the United States already suspended its military aid to Israel?
Yes. The United States suspended military aid to Israel in 1982, when President Ronald Reagan imposed a six-year ban on sales of cluster munitions to Israel. This followed a congressional investigation that found Israel used the weapons on civilian-populated areas during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
What is happening in Rafah?
Israel launched a military offensive on Rafah on Tuesday and took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off access to humanitarian aid, hours after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal. fire. This followed a nighttime attack on the area using warplanes that killed at least 12 civilians.
After Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, more than a million internally displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah – many of them previously displaced from other parts. of Gaza following Israel’s evacuation orders from these areas. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, most of them women and children. Thousands more are missing and feared dead under the rubble.
With Rafah being the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, observers say civilians now have nowhere to go.