At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the US has decided to hold up a delivery of weapons and munitions to “Israel” after the latter carried out an offensive on Rafah without Washington’s approval.
“We’ve been very clear…from the very beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into the Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace. And again, as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload weapons,” Austin said.
“We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment.”
It is worth noting that US arms and bombs have been used during the last 7 months to kill more than 34,000 Palestinians most of whom are women and children.
On Monday, the Israeli war cabinet unanimously decided to proceed with the invasion of Rafah, just a few hours after Hamas informed mediators that it had agreed to a proposed ceasefire agreement.
This decision came despite Washington’s warnings that it would be compelled to halt military assistance to the Israeli regime if it were to invade the city of Rafah without providing an adequate plan to protect Gaza’s civilians.
“Israel’s” decision to go ahead with the invasion sparked worldwide outrage, as the city is considered by many international humanitarian organizations as a crucial refuge for internally displaced persons.
Since the commencement of the aggression, the area east of Rafah has witnessed heavy artillery shelling and intense gunfire from helicopters, while Israeli warplanes have fired phosphorus bombs, Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent reported.
In light of these atrocities, the White House said on Wednesday that talks regarding a potential exchange deal between Hamas and “Israel” are still ongoing and that “a close assessment of the two sides’ position suggests they should be able to close the gap.”
While en route to Wisconsin, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured reporters aboard Air Force One that President Joe Biden maintains confidence in his team assisting with the negotiations.
Source: AlMayadeen
