Israel has not responded to US “concerns”
According to statements by a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to journalists from several media outlets including Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Washington Post, Israeli and US officials discussed an alternative to the Rafah offensive, but “These discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns.”
It is these concerns which motivated, according to this American official, the suspension of a delivery of bombs. “We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment”he added.
“As Israeli leaders appeared to move closer to a decision on such an operation, we began to carefully examine proposals to transfer specific weapons to Israel that could be used at Rafah. It started in April »detailed this senior official.
He added that Washington was “particularly concentrated” on the use of the heaviest 2,000 pound bombs “and the impact they could have in dense urban environments like we have seen in other parts of Gaza”.
The US State Department is also examining other arms transfers, including the use of precision bombs known as JDAM (remote guided bombs), the official added.
The Israeli army deployed tanks on Tuesday in Rafah (south), took control of the border crossing with Egypt and closed the two main access points for humanitarian aid (Rafah and Kerem Shalom), a measure considered “unacceptable” by the United States.
