@JacquiHeinrich
The Biden administration has paused shipments of two types of precision bombs for Israel, according to a U.S. official. One is 1,800 2,000 pound bombs and the second is 1,700 500 pound bombs. The shipments were not part of the national security supplemental.
Full Statement attributable to a U.S. official, via @Liz_Friden
"The U.S. position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go.
We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza.
Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah. This began in April.
As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs. We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza. We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment.
For certain other cases at the State Department, including JDAM kits, we are continuing the review. None of these cases involve imminent transfers – they are about future transfers.
And finally, to be clear: none of these shipments have anything to do with the Israel supplemental appropriations passed last month. All are drawn from previously appropriated funds, some many years ago. We are committed to ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental. In fact, we just approved the latest tranche of Foreign Military Financing: $827 million worth of weapons and equipment for Israel."
View: https://twitter.com/jacquiheinrich/status/1788122711111192695?s=61
The Biden administration has paused shipments of two types of precision bombs for Israel, according to a U.S. official. One is 1,800 2,000 pound bombs and the second is 1,700 500 pound bombs. The shipments were not part of the national security supplemental.
Full Statement attributable to a U.S. official, via @Liz_Friden
"The U.S. position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go.
We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza.
Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns. As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation, we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah. This began in April.
As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs. We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza. We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment.
For certain other cases at the State Department, including JDAM kits, we are continuing the review. None of these cases involve imminent transfers – they are about future transfers.
And finally, to be clear: none of these shipments have anything to do with the Israel supplemental appropriations passed last month. All are drawn from previously appropriated funds, some many years ago. We are committed to ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental. In fact, we just approved the latest tranche of Foreign Military Financing: $827 million worth of weapons and equipment for Israel."
View: https://twitter.com/jacquiheinrich/status/1788122711111192695?s=61
