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US Paused Weapons Shipment to Israel Over Rafah Operation Concerns, Pentagon Chief Confirms
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on US President Joe Biden’s proposed budget request for the Department of Defense on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, April 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday confirmed that the Biden administration halted the delivery of high payload munitions to Israel due to concerns over a possible Israeli military offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah.
“We’ve been very clear … from the beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack in Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians in that battle space,” Austin testified during a hearing of the US Senate Appropriations Committee.
According to US officials, the weapons delivery in question was supposed to contain 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. Austin said on Wednesday that the US paused “one shipment of high payload munitions” without elaborating on the size or number of munitions.
Austin was the first senior Biden administration official to publicly outline a possible shift in US policy on arming Israel. The US is a close ally of Israel and its biggest arms supplier.
The paused delivery was the first time the US held up a weapons shipment for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza, launched the ongoing war when it invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, murdering 1,200 people and abducting 252 others as hostages. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and incapacitating Hamas to the point that it can longer pose a major threat to the Israeli people from neighboring Gaza, a Palestinian enclave home to over 2 million people.
The US has been consistently supplying Israel with weapons since October. However, under heavy pressure from Democrats and progressive activists to oppose Israel’s war effort, President Joe Biden has adopted an increasingly critical posture toward the Jewish state. That transition peaked last month, when Biden threatened to pull back support for Israel due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Austin argued on Wednesday that Israel didn’t need large bombs in a dense urban setting like Rafah.
A “small-diameter bomb, which is a precision weapon, it’s very useful in a dense, built-up environment … but maybe not so much a 2,000-pound bomb that could create a lot of collateral damage,” Austin said.
“We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment,” he added.
The US has sought to pressure Israel to forgo a significant military operation in Rafah, citing the potential for civilian casualties; Jerusalem has countered that a ground offensive is necessary to eliminate Hamas’ remaining battalions in the southern Gaza city.
Experts have told The Algemeiner that Israel must operate in Rafah, which Israeli officials have described as Hamas’ last bastion in Gaza, if the Jewish state wishes to achieve its war objective of eliminating the threat posed by the Palestinian terrorist group.
Israel this week began limited operations in Rafah, but it remains unclear when and if a full-scale military offensive will take place. Israeli forces have sent leaflets and other forms of messages to civilians in Gaza, urging them to evacuate to a humanitarian safe zone.
Austin stressed that US support for Israel is “ironclad.”
“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Austin said. “But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”
Republican lawmakers lambasted Austin and the Biden administration for the decision.
“If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the State of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price,” said US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who argued Washington shouldn’t second-guess how Israel waged a war against Islamist terrorists committed to its destruction. “This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need.”
Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) — the chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, respectively — also slammed the Biden administration’s move.
“We are appalled that the administration paused crucial arms shipments to Israel. Withholding arms to Israel weakens Israel’s deterrence against Iran and its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “At a time when Israel continues to negotiate in good faith to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, the administration’s shortsighted, strategic error calls into question its ‘unshakeable commitment’ as an ally. The administration must allow these arms shipments to move forward to uphold the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and ensure that Israel can defend itself and defeat Hamas.”
Israeli officials have reportedly expressed “deep frustration” with the Biden administration over the weapons shipment pause. However, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday that the allies will resolve such issues “behind closed doors,” adding that coordination between the US and Israel has reached “a scope without precedent, I think, in history.”
The post US Paused Weapons Shipment to Israel Over Rafah Operation Concerns, Pentagon Chief Confirms first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Vows to Press on with Offensive
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, August 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighborhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
Fire lit the skies from the direction of the explosions, causing panic, prompting some families to stream out of the city. Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel’s terms and release all hostages.
Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
It said a ceasefire agreement was “the only way to return the hostages,” holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 hostages – of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living – and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘HUNGRY AND AFRAID’
Around half of the enclave’s two million people currently live in Gaza City. A few thousand have already left, carrying their belongings on vehicles and rickshaws.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40, via a chat app. “No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Others said they will not leave, no matter what.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation, even if they did try to leave. “We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money.”
A global hunger monitor said on Friday that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread. Israel has rejected the assessment and says it ignores steps it has taken since late July to increase aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
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Iran Signals Willingness to Scale Back Uranium Enrichment to Ease Tensions
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iran may be prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels in a bid to stave off renewed UN sanctions and limit the risk of further strikes by Israel and the United States, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph.
Citing Iranian sources, the paper said Tehran is considering lowering enrichment from 60% to 20%.
The move is reportedly being championed by Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who is holding talks with regime leaders.
“Larijani is trying to convince the system to reduce the level of enrichment in order to avoid further war,” a senior Iranian official told the paper.
The proposal, however, faces stiff resistance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long opposed concessions on the nuclear program. Still, the report suggests Iran’s leadership may be open to greater flexibility, including the possibility of reviving engagement with Western powers.
Last month, i24NEWS reported exclusively that a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to travel to Iran. The team of technical experts would seek to resume monitoring of nuclear sites, inspections that have been heavily restricted in recent years.
The development comes amid mounting regional tensions and could represent a critical turning point in the long-running nuclear standoff.
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Major Brush Fire Erupts Near Jerusalem, Evacuations Underway
A view of the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem fast train seen over the HaArazim Valley (“Valley of Cedars”) just outside of Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2018. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
i24 News – A large brush fire broke out Sunday in the Cedars Valley area, near Route 1 and the Motza interchange, prompting an emergency response from Jerusalem district fire services. Several water-bombing planes were dispatched, and authorities have declared a “fire emergency.”
As a precaution, residents of Mevaseret Zion are being evacuated. Access to the town from Route 1 has already been blocked, and officials are weighing a full closure of the major highway.
Fire crews from the Ha’uma station are on site working to contain the flames, while motorists in the area are urged to heed traffic updates and follow instructions from emergency services.
Eight firefighting aircraft are currently operating above the blaze in support of ground teams. The fire comes amid one of the hottest, driest summers on record, with conditions fueling a series of destructive wildfires across the country.
Officials warn the situation remains critical, as the blaze threatens a vital transportation corridor leading into Jerusalem.