US Withholds Weapons Shipment amid Israel’s Operation in Rafah

May 9, 2024

by: Kate Norman

Thursday, 9 May 2024 | The United States halted a weapons shipment to Israel amid the Israeli military’s operation in Rafah to wipe out the Hamas terrorist presence in the area, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday to Washington’s Senate Appropriations Committee.

This is reportedly the first time that Washington has held up a weapons shipment for Jerusalem since the latter was attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, after which the Jewish state launched an operation in Gaza to wipe out the terrorist group and ensure that such a massacre never happens again.

Rafah is located in southern Gaza and serves as the border crossing between the terror enclave and Egypt.

Israeli officials insist that an operation in Rafah is crucial for Israel in reaching its goal of dismantling Hamas. The area is where four of Hamas’s last six battalions are stationed, the Times of Israel reported, citing Israeli defense officials, and is also where some of Hamas’s key leadership is located. The city is also where many of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 are likely being held, the Times of Israel reported.

The paused US shipment included 1,800 2,000-lb (907-kg.) bombs and 1,700 500-lb (226-kg.) bombs, the Times of Israel reported, citing a senior Biden administration official.

Defense Secretary Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday that the US halted the shipment out of concern for the civilians in Rafah, asserting that “Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack in Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians in that battle space” as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it warned civilians to evacuate the area on Monday via phone calls, text messages and broadcasts in Arabic. Some 100,000 civilians began evacuating the area toward two safe zones established by the IDF, which were equipped with field hospitals, medical supplies, food and water, the Jewish News Syndicate reported.

Countering Austin’s decision to withhold shipment of the precision weapons, Republican Senator John Hoeven pointed out that “those precision weapons will help them [Israel] fully defeat Hamas with less impact on the civilian population in Gaza,” as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “So why would we not go ahead and get them those weapons just as fast as we can?”

The US is also wavering on an upcoming sale to Israel of up to 6,500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which turn unguided or “dumb” bombs into precision-guided weapons, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Rafah is one of the main crossings used to get humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza for the civilian populations. While anti-Israel critics around the world accuse the Jewish state of blocking humanitarian aid shipments from entering Gaza, Jerusalem insists that the shipments are going through but the materials are mismanaged by Hamas and other aid organizations, with Hamas going so far as to steal the shipments and turn around and sell them at a skyrocketed price.

“One of the things that Israel said—which is very much accurate—is that Hamas [still] controlled the Gaza side of Rafah crossing,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated in a press briefing, as quoted by the Times of Israel. “And Hamas was continuing to collect revenue from that crossing being open.

“So it is a legitimate goal to try and deprive Hamas of money that they could use to continue to finance their terrorist activities,” Miller added.

The Rafah crossing was closed on Tuesday when the Israeli military operation began.

The other main crossing—Kerem Shalom, a crossing between Israel and Gaza—was closed after a Hamas rocket killed four Israeli soldiers last weekend but reopened yesterday. The Israeli military published drone footage showing a caravan of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza through the crossing.

Posted on May 9, 2024

Photo Credit: US Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Theron J. Godbold/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Source: (Bridges for Peace, May 9, 2024)