The United States suspended the delivery of bombs to Israel due to the lack of answers to concerns from the White House regarding the announced offensive against Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
According to an American government source cited by AFP on condition of anonymity, the delivery of a shipment of “1,800 explosives weighing 907 kilos and 1,700 weighing 227 kilos” was blocked.
However, the same official highlighted that there is still no definitive decision on the issue.
President Joe Biden is against an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, a city that is home to more than 1.2 million people, including 600,000 children, according to Unicef.
Located on the border with Egypt, in recent months the municipality has become a destination for people displaced from other regions of the enclave in search of a less dangerous place.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on the operation and claims that Rafah is the last bastion of the fundamentalist group Hamas, author of attacks that left 1,200 people dead in the Jewish country on October 7, 2023.
Terrorist attacks trigger a war in the Gaza Strip, which accounts for more than 35,000 Palestinians killed in seven months of conflict.
Last Tuesday (7), Israel took control of the Rafah border post with Egypt, the main entry point for humanitarian aid in the enclave. On the other hand, the army reopened this Wednesday the Kerem Shalom border post, also near Rafah.
Hamas announced this week that it had accepted a truce agreement, but the information was denied by Israel. According to the Egyptian press, negotiations in Cairo resumed this Wednesday. (with Ansa)
