US Pauses Ordnance Delivery To Israel Amidst Rafah Assault

By Wojciech L in Aerial Bomb, Israel, News, Ordnance, USA May 9, 2024

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The US has halted a delivery of 2,000 lb bombs to Israel this week, as the Israeli Defense Force began its operations in the Rafah region. Since October, the Israeli forces engaged in near continuous combat operations in the heavily urbanized and population dense Gaza Strip. It is claimed that over 35,000 Plestinians have lost their lives in the ongoing fighting. Meanwhile various humanitarian aid organizations work tirelessly to provide basic goods and services to the population of Gaza.

IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing following intelligence that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes. This is after mortars were fired from the area of the Rafah Crossing toward the area of the…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 7, 2024

IDF announce launch of operations in Rafah, 7 May 2024

In a rather unprecedented move the US government has announced a pause to the deliveries of munitions and ordnance to the IDF. In the urban environment, the Israeli Air Force’s strikes have caused considerable collateral damage. This led to the accusations of indiscriminate bombing and lack of regard to civilian population safety.

The systematic destruction of Hamas strongholds through out the Gaza Strip has led the IDF to strike the last positions of the organization being held in the southwestern city of Rafah. The city itself is one of the urban centers of Gaza, filled with non-combatants. The US has warned the Israeli government that any military operation aimed at taking Rafah may cause a pause to weapons deliveries to Israel.

Members of the 401st Aircraft Generation Squadron, prepare to load MARK 84 2,000-pound bombs onto 401st Tactical Fighter Wing F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, February 1991. (USAF/L.F. Corkran)

Now, as the IDF amasses its forces to launch a full-scale offensive into the city, the White House has intervened, cutting off the delivery of many types of aerial bombs to the IAF. The greatest concern was posed by the 2,000 lb Mark 84; along with smaller Mark 83 (1,000 lb) and Mark 82 (500 lb) conventional ‘dull’ bombs, which do not contain any guidance system on their own. The IAF used such ordnance extensively and has been supplied with large amounts of the Mark 84 bombs.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, told a Senate budget hearing that: “We’ve been very clear… from the very beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space. We have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions,” he told a Senate hearing, adding: “We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with with that shipment.” It remains to be seen if the shipment will proceed in the future and if indeed future shipments will also be paused to apply pressure on Israel.

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