The Biden administration defends suspending arms sales to Israel over concerns about the attack on Rafah

Nick Schifrin:

The government has frozen the delivery of 3,500 American bombs to Israel. These are weapons that have already been approved by Congress, specifically 1,800 2,000-pound bombs that Israel has used primarily in the northern Gaza Strip.

They see the aftermath of an attack on Hamas tunnels deep underground. But it is the bombs that have caused the most civilian casualties due to their size and unguided nature.

A senior administration official says – quote: “We are particularly focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in densely populated urban areas.”

This is a reference to Rafah, where of course 1.2 million Gazans fled to the southern Gaza Strip. And Israel, as you said, is threatening attacks, particularly on the city of Rafah.

Now Israel has more than enough weapons, Amna, to attack Rafah. So this is not about preparedness. This is what an official tells me, a message. And that message is also being sent because the US is saying: If Israel doesn’t invade Rafah, there will be no further frozen shipments, not just the 3,500 bombs that we’ve already talked about, but a separate shipment of Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs.

These are kits that convert unguided ammunition into precision-guided ammunition, which Israel also demands. But the US is not blocking defensive weapons – including missile defense – nor is it blocking recently seized funds – foreign funds for Israeli weapons.

In total, the US has sent billions of dollars to Israel since October 7th. But it’s a big step for President Biden, who has criticized the idea in the past. The fact is that this is the United States’ greatest influence on Israel: weapons.