US delays arms supply to Israel amid Rafah offensive

Washington: The US is delaying arms supply to Israel, a sign of Washington’s objection to Israel’s offensive on the Rafah city in southern Gaza, the media reported.

The Biden administration is putting the sale of at least two arms shipments to Israel on hold, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing a US official as saying that the move was a “shot across the bow” to make it clear to the Israeli side that Washington is seriously concerned about an ill-planned ground operation in Rafah, which will lead to a dramatic increase of death toll and deteriorate the humanitarian disaster in the ongoing war in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

“I’ve seen the press reporting on this,” National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday when asked to confirm the administration’s decision, adding that all he could say was that US “support for Israel’s security remains ironclad”.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics of one shipment over another,” Kirby told a daily press briefing at the White House.

Rafah, located in the southern end of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, where 1.4 million Palestinian civilians are seeking refuge, has become a vital point for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza since Israel launched a retaliatory military operation against Hamas following the latter’s attack on October 7.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement early Tuesday that its troops “managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side” of the Rafah crossing following a “precise counterterrorism operation” launched overnight against Hamas.