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GAZA WAR

US to restart transfer of 500 lbs bombs to Israel

US to restart transfer of 500 lbs bombs to Israel

This picture taken from a position near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke rising over Gaza on July 9, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP)

The U.S. will restart its shipments of 500-pound bombs to Israel after a freeze on the transfers in May prior to the start of Israel's offensive on Rafah, according to the Washington Post.

According to the American daily, the decision to send the around 1,700 bombs came after a significant pressure campaign by Israeli officials – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – and pro-Israel lobby groups over the last month which accused the Biden administration of withholding arms transfers to Israel, an accusation that the U.S. flatly denied.

Biden administration officials said that only the 2,000 and 500 lbs bombs were being frozen with all other weapons being sent to Israel normally.

According to a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, the 500-pound bombs were never really an issue but "because of how these shipments are put together, other munitions may sometimes be co-mingled. That’s what happened here with the 500-lb bombs, since our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000-lb bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza."

The freezing of the arms transfer was largely viewed as being a warning to Israel about taking more care to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza as the Israeli military began pushing into Rafah. Over 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Despite U.S. President Joe Biden stating that any major operation in Rafah would constitute a "red line" for him and would affect U.S. support for Israel, U.S. officials later said that the Israeli operation in Rafah never crossed the line, even an Israeli strike on a tent camp that killed at least 46 people.

It is not clear when the now unfrozen bombs will be sent to Israel.

Janet Abou-Elias, a research fellow at the Center for International Policy, told the Post that, due to the high density of Gaza's populated areas, "the difference in the destructive impact between a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound bomb is negligible, both causing immense destruction and civilian casualties."

The transfer of the 2,000-pound bombs remains frozen and "under review."

The U.S. will restart its shipments of 500-pound bombs to Israel after a freeze on the transfers in May prior to the start of Israel's offensive on Rafah, according to the Washington Post.According to the American daily, the decision to send the around 1,700 bombs came after a significant pressure campaign by Israeli officials – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister...