Falcon powers – The Biden administration is expected to soon release 500 pounds of bombs that were delayed in being sent to Israel in April as part of a massive arms shipment, due to US concerns about a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, according to the Axios website.
Axios: The White House wants to ease tensions between Biden and Israel’s supporters in Washington over the decision to withhold a specific arms shipment
The report claims this move indicates the US is now less concerned about the possibility of Israel using these bombs in Gaza and that the White House wants to ease some of the tensions between President Biden and Israel’s supporters over his decision to withhold this specific shipment.
According to reports, around 1,700 500-pound bombs are expected to be delivered after the completion of the Israeli operation in Rafah, which is expected to take place within two weeks, according to an Israeli official.
Israel says it needs the bombs in case the fighting with Hezbollah on the border escalates into a full-scale war.
US and Israeli officials said the Biden administration is still reviewing another part of the shipment that includes more than 2,000 tons of weapons.
In early May, Axios reported that Biden had decided to suspend an arms shipment that was supposed to be sent to Israel.
A few days later, US officials confirmed that the arms shipment, which included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, had been paused due to concerns about a potential Israeli operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge.
The next day, Biden said in an interview with CNN that if Israel invaded Rafah, the US would stop providing it with artillery shells, fighter jet bombs, and other offensive weapons.
Israeli and US officials tried to resolve the issue for several weeks in private talks, but last week Prime Minister Netanyahu released a video clip accusing Biden of halting arms supplies to Israel.
