Biden Held Israeli Ammunition Shipment

The Biden administration reportedly held up a shipment of ammunition to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The news came as Hamas appeared to reject a proposed ceasefire and the White House dropped plans to sanction an Israeli military unit.

The administration stopped a payload of ammunition last week without a clear reason why. Both Washington and Jerusalem appeared mum on the potential reason why. The action could have been in response to Israel’s planned attack on Rafah in the West Bank.

Axios reports that the U.S. decided to freeze the transfer of an ammunition shipment to Israel last week.

It’s the first time it happens since the war started and is viewed as an attempt by the U.S. to put pressure on Israel to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas

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Israel prepared for an attack on the last Hamas stronghold of Rafah as negotiations with Hamas appear to have broken down. The plan sparked numerous protests against Israel in its campaign to finish off the terrorist organization.

President Joe Biden had previously called such an attack a “red line,” though he later appeared to walk the comment back. His administration criticized Israel over Palestinian civilian casualties during the current conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country was determined to destroy Hamas after the terrorist group launched the attack last Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people.

The White House announced last month that it would drop plans to sanction three military units in the Israel Defense Force after allegations of “gross human rights violations.” The United States believed that the Israeli battalions had acted improperly in the West Bank.

The White House received considerable criticism for its plans to sanction units from an allied military. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. would “do our best to collect the facts and follow the facts and that’s what we’re doing.”

However, following information supplied by the Israeli government regarding the allegations and a proposed solution, Blinken said that the U.S. and Israel would “engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit.”

“But this will have no impact on our support for Israel’s ability to defend itself against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah or other threats,” said Blinken.