US Suspending Arms Shipments 'Very Disappointing': Israel's UN Ambassador

Israel expressed disappointment Wednesday for a US decision to suspend a shipment of military aid.

Israeli UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, in the first official comment from Tel Aviv, told the Israel Hayom newspaper that the decision is "very disappointing."

Energy Minister Eli Cohen told the newspaper that "independence in the production of weapons and ammunition is of utmost importance for Israel's security."

Washington is "currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments" to Israel, US defense chief Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, adding that the US would like to see "no major combat" in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

"We're gonna continue to do what's necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself. But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah," Austin said during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee about the Pentagon's budget for the fiscal year 2025.

Austin said the US has been very clear from the very beginning that Israel should not launch a major attack in Rafah without first accounting for and protecting the civilians in the battlespace.

"As we have assessed the situation, we pause one shipment of high payload munitions," he said. "We certainly would like to see no major combat take place in Rafah."

"We've not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment and I would highlight that this shipment doesn't have anything to do with the supplemental appropriations that you just helped us get," he added.

Seven months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala -