US pauses shipment of weapons

UNITED STATES President Joe Biden’s administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said yesterday.

Biden has been trying to head off a fullscale assault by the Israelis against Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian have sought refuge from combat elsewhere in Gaza.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said as Israelis leaders seemed to approach a decision on a Rafah incursion, ‘‘we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah’’ beginning last month.

‘‘As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week.

‘‘It consists of 1800 2000pound [907kg] bombs and 1700 500pound bombs.

‘‘We are especially focused on the enduse of the 2000pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.

‘‘We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment.’’

Four sources said the shipments, which have been delayed for at least two weeks, involved Boeingmade Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which convert dumb bombs into precisionguided ones, as well as Small Diameter Bombs.

Israeli forces on Tuesday seized the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah, cutting off a vital aid route.

Without addressing whether there had been a holdup in arms shipments, White House press secretary Karine JeanPierre reaffirmed that Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security was ‘‘ironclad’’.

Still, when asked about the reports on the arms holdups, she added ‘‘two things could be true, in the sense of having those . . . direct conversations with our counterparts in Israel ... in making sure citizens lives are protected . . . and getting that commitment’’.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday there had not been a policy decision to withhold arms from Israel.

Still, the delays appeared to be the first since Biden’s administration offered its full support to Israel following Hamas’ October 7 attack.

An Israeli army spokesperson said coordination between allies was unmatched and any disagreements were resolved in private.

The US said it believed a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal might lead to a breakthrough in the ceasefire impasse, as talks resume in Cairo today.

In Cairo, all five delegations participating in ceasefire talks yesterday — Hamas, Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar — reacted positively to the resumption of negotiations, and meetings were expected to continue today, two Egyptian sources said.

Israel on Tuesday declared a threephase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been softened.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Hamas presented a revised proposal, and the new text suggested the remaining gaps could ‘‘absolutely be closed’’.

According to Hamas officials and an official briefed on the talks, the proposal Hamas approved on Tuesday included a first phase with a sixweek ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage.