US President Joe Biden has decided to withhold the supply of high-explosive munitions to Israel in the context of Israel's plans to launch an offensive in Rafah, which Washington opposes, unless new guarantees are provided for the security of civilians, said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, quoted by Reuters, writes BTA.
"We have made it very clear from the beginning that Israel should not launch a major attack in Rafah without considering and protecting the civilians who are in that battle space. And again, as we assessed the situation, we stopped one shipment of large-payload munitions," he said during a Senate hearing.
"We have not made a final decision on how to proceed with this shipment," he added.
The Israeli military announced today that they have reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing point. in Gaza, which was closed for several days, but the UN said no humanitarian aid had yet entered. In addition, there is no one on the Palestinian side to receive it after the workers fled during the Israeli military incursion into the area, notes the Associated Press.
Earlier today, the United Nations Population Fund said the main gynecological hospital in the overcrowded southern city of Rafah had stopped accepting patients. The medical facility was performing about 85 of a total of 180 births a day in Gaza before the escalation of fighting between "Hamas" and Israeli troops on the outskirts of Rafah, Reuters notes.