As the gulf between the US and Israel widens, it has emerged the Biden administration paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns Israel would imminently attack the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
A senior administration official said the shipment would have consisted of 1,800 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225kg) bombs.
They added the US was concerned about how the larger bombs could be used in a dense urban setting.
Israel’s military yesterday took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, prompting fears a full-scale attack is imminent.
More than one million civilians are sheltering in Rafah after fleeing other parts of Gaza during Israeli airstrikes.
Historically, the US has provided a large amount of military aid for Israel.
But Joe Biden’s administration began reviewing future transfers of military assistance as Israel appeared to move closer towards an offensive in Rafah.
Concern has been mounting privately in the White House about the situation in Rafah, but publicly administration officials have stressed they did not think the operations so far defied Mr Biden’s warnings against a widescale operation in the city.
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