Currently Online 
US Republicans criticise Biden over halting weapon shipment to Israel
Several legislators have slammed the Biden administration over its decision to pause one arms shipment to Israel.
“The Biden Administration says their commitment to Israel is ‘ironclad’. If they mean it, then it’s time to stop bending to pressure from campus communists and give our ally the time, space, and support it needs to destroy the terrorists threatening Israelis and Palestinians, alike,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a social media post.
Biden has been a staunch Israel supporter throughout his decades-long political career, and last month he approved $14bn in additional military support to the US ally.
But the administration suspended the shipment to convey its opposition to the Israeli offensive in Rafah. Still, US officials have reaffirmed that the US commitment to Israel’s security remains strong.
Liberal pro-Israel group backs Biden for halting arms shipment
J Street, a US Jewish group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, welcomed the pause on one weapons shipment to Israel that the Biden administration said it halted in opposition to the Rafah offensive.
“J Street supports the Biden Administration’s decision to halt the transfer of certain munitions to Israel to signal deep concerns over the potential of a full-scale Israeli assault on the city of Rafah,” the group said in a statement, calling the move a “measured step”.
“The United States has made clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it cannot support such military action without a credible and executable evacuation plan for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians sheltering in the area.”
Unlike with military aid to Ukraine, the US does not detail its arms transfers to Israel, so the significance of pausing one shipment relative to the broader assistance remains unclear.
Senate-House leaders ask Biden for clarification on arms transfer to Israel
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a letter to President Biden expressing “alarm” and concern about the decision “to pause” a weapons shipment to Israel. They asked for clarification by the end of the week.
Biden says bombs US has paused sending to Israel have killed civilians
The US president says the bombs that Washington has supplied to Israel and has now paused sending have been used to kill Palestinian civilians.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” he said in an interview with US news outlet CNN, when asked about 2,000-pound bombs sent to Israel.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”
Smoke billows after Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip
Reason why the report on Israel compliance with laws of war has been delayed, to get around the Leahy law. Yet another admission they knew all along their bombs were used to carpet bomb civilians.
US still committed to Israel’s security: President Biden
We now have more news lines from the US president’s interview with CNN. Biden said the United States is still committed to Israel’s defence and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive weaponry.
But if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used”.
Finally!
Essay Pro