Biden halts bomb deliveries to Israel amid Gaza civilian deaths

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the delivery of bombs to Israel for the war with Hamas has been suspended to prevent them from being 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," said Joe Biden in an interview with CNN when asked about the bombs sent to Israel.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the USA has suspended a shipment of ammunition to Israel in light of Israel's announced plans for a military operation in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. He added that his department is currently analyzing further shipments.

Austin confirmed media reports about the suspension of ammunition delivery to Israel during a hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations. He stated that the decision was related to Israel's announced plans to storm Rafah - the last stronghold of Hamas, where, at the same time, over a million Palestinian civilians seek shelter.

"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 battlespace... And again, as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions," said Austin.

Hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip have fuel for only three days left - warned on platform X the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.

"Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt," wrote Tedros Ghebreyesus.

"One of the three hospitals in Rafah, Al-Najjar, is no longer functioning due to the ongoing hostilities in its vicinity and the military operation in Rafah," emphasized the WHO chief. He added that the closure of the border crossing still prevents the UN from delivering fuel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations, including hospital operations, come to a halt."

Fuel is primarily used to power generators that supply hospitals with electricity.

The Israeli army conducted airstrikes and "targeted" operations in Rafah on Wednesday. The day before, it seized control of the border crossing in the city, which plays a strategic role in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

"At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently require expansion, the Rafah military operation is further limiting our ability to reach thousands of people who have been living in dire conditions without adequate food, sanitation, health services and security. This must stop now," warned Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Rafah is the last bastion of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, and also a place where most of the population of the Gaza Strip, which fled from other war-affected areas, has concentrated. According to estimates, 1.4 million out of 2.3 million residents of Gaza are staying in the city.