US pauses ammunition shipment to Israel for first time since Oct 7: reports
The Biden administration paused a shipment of US-made ammunition to Israel last week amid the latter's ongoing attack on Gaza, but the reasons for doing so were not clear, according to media outlets in the US and Israel.
Axios broke the news yesterday citing two Israeli officials. According to its report, it is the first time since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that the US has stopped a weapons shipment intended for the Israeli military.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the pause of the shipment sparked concerns and prompted Israeli officials to seek clarification from their American counterparts.
It also said that this was the first pause of shipment from the US to Israel since October 7.
Senior Israeli officials told the newspaper that the shipment was intended to include crucial weaponry for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which has killed over 34,000 people–most of them women and children–in Gaza since Hamas's October 7 attack.
Israel is poised to attack the Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million people have been driven following Israel's relentless bombing in the northern regions.
Quoting a source familiar with the shipment pause, CNN reported that it is not connected to the potential operation in Rafah and does not affect other shipments moving forward.
Asked about the paused shipment, a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN, "The United States has surged billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel since the October 7 attacks, passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistance to Israel, led an unprecedented coalition to defend Israel against Iranian attacks, and will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself from the threats it faces."
The Biden administration is facing increasing pressure at home and abroad for its unstinting support to Israel in what has been termed by many rights groups as a genocidal campaign against Palestinians.
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