The Biden administration is releasing part of a shipment of bombs that was suspended due to supposed concerns over Israel’s invasion of Rafah — nearly two months into Israeli forces’ Rafah raid that U.S. officials once said they sought to prevent.
Axios reported on Thursday, citing an Israeli official, that the administration is expected to deliver 1,700 500 pound-bombs to Israel in two weeks when, the official claimed, Israeli forces would draw down their invasion of Rafah. Since the invasion, Israeli forces have turned southern Gaza into a ghost town and taken over much of the city through forced displacement and mass violence.
The bombs, which have enormous destructive power, had been put on hold as U.S. officials “reviewed” the shipment – after President Joe Biden pledged to withhold some bombs to Israel over concerns that they would be used in densely populated civilian centers in Rafah.
For months, Biden and his administration had warned that an invasion of Rafah would be a “red line” that Israel must not cross. Yet, the administration has not made any substantial changes to its support of Israel since May, as Israel has undertaken a horrific siege of Rafah, part of which was a major escalation of its already devastating humanitarian aid blockade.
Rather, the Biden administration has continued to double down on its total fealty to Israel. In May alone, it approved $3 billion in military assistance to Israel, while Biden has continued to run diplomatic cover for Israel.
U.S. and Israeli officials have been discussing the pause on the shipment of 1,800 2,000 pound bombs that are reportedly still on hold, although the U.S. has continued to funnel other types of weapons to Israel. Officials told Axios that the only reason the 500 pound bombs were paused to begin with was that they were intermingled in the shipment of 2,000 pound bombs that was put on hold.
In other words, the administration appears to have totally thrown away its “red line” on Rafah by giving Israel the go-ahead to continue using its bombs to massacre civilians in Gaza and beyond – with the exception of the one shipment of 2,000 pound bombs — of which the U.S. has already sent thousands since October.
The 500 pound bombs will be released at a time when international leaders are expecting a full-on war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon — a war that would, like Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, be carried out using U.S. weapons. In fact, the continuation of U.S. weapons shipments to Israel despite its horrific campaign of extermination in Gaza is the reason why U.S. officials have said that they are doubtful Biden could even stop Israel from escalating its offensive against Lebanon even if he wanted to, HuffPost reported this week.