US HAS BEEN HOLDING UP SEVERAL WEAPONS SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL FOR 2 WEEKS, SOURCE SAYS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been holding up several shipment of weapons to Israel for at least two weeks, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Politico, which broke the news, cited a U.S. official as saying Washington wanted to send a political message to Israel.

Washington has said it could not support an Israeli invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah without an appropriate and credible humanitarian plan.

The delayed shipments include small diameter tail kits for unguided bombs made by Boeing that are designed to make them more accurate, the source said, adding several direct commercial sales that were in process for Israel were also being help up.

A pause in new sales would impede Israel's ability to restock weapons it has used.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Mike Stone, Caitlin Webber and David Ljunggren; Editing by Doina Chiacu and David Gregorio)

2024-05-07T17:16:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd