US paused Israel weapons shipment over Rafah, Austin says
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STORY: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday told the Senate that Washington had paused a shipment of weapons to Israel over that government's plans to carry an operation in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. "Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into the Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace." [FLASH] "...as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions." Austin confirmed reports that the U.S. had at least temporarily halted the planned transfer of some 3,500 powerful 2,000-lb and 500-lb bombs. It marks the first such delay since the Biden administration offered its "ironclad" support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. And the pause caught some U.S. lawmakers by surprise. CAPITO: "What is the status of withholding our weaponry that we voted to send to Israel? Are we doing that? Why are we doing that?" That was Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito's question to the Pentagon chief on Wednesday. AUSTIN: "Again, our commitment to Israel is ironclad." [FLASH] "We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of the unfolding events in Rafah." That answer wasn't acceptable to Republican Lindsey Graham, who denounced what he called American efforts to tell Israel how to wage war. "You're going to tell them how to fight the war? And what they can and can't use? When everyone around them wants to kill all the Jews?" But others disagreed. MURPHY: "In fact, history tells us that the application of overwhelming military force can in fact grow terrorist threats, not shrink them." Democratic Senator Chris Murphy pointed out that the U.S. has no small experience trying - and failing - to defeat militant groups, and Israel could heed American advice on weapons and tactics. And Austin appeared to agree. "We learned that you have to protect civilians in the battlespace, otherwise you create more terrorists going forward." Washington is Israel's closest ally and main weapons supplier, and that relationship has been challenged by Israel's devastating retaliation that Palestinian health officials say killed 35,000 Gazans. The U.S. had urged Israel to hold off on plans to attack the city of Rafah, where around half of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been crowded after fleeing other parts of the enclave during seven months of war. But Israel has threatened a major assault on the city to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. An Israeli military spokesperson on Wednesday played down the arms hold-up, telling a conference that the operational partnership was significant and saying quote, "When there are disputes, and there are, they are being resolved behind closed doors in a matter-of-fact way."
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