CBS News
White House pauses shipment of some weapons to Israel
The White House last week paused a shipment of weapons to Israel, as Israeli leaders closed in on a decision to launch an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday in testimony to Congress that “we paused one shipment of high payload munitions.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s military announced Tuesday the launch of “targeted strikes” against Hamas in Rafah, which Israel has said is Hamas’ last stronghold, after Israel’s War Cabinet approved a military operation in the city.
The U.S. has long held that Israel shouldn’t launch such a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million people are taking shelter after fleeing other parts of Gaza. But the United States’ concerns in discussions with Israel about addressing humanitarian needs in Rafah and how to approach Hamas have not been sufficiently addressed, the senior administration official said. When Israeli leaders appeared close to a decision on Rafah, the Biden administration began to review upcoming transfers of weapons that could be used in Rafah, and as a result, paused one shipment last week, the official said.
That stalled shipment contains 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, the former of which the Biden administration was particularly concerned could do severe damage in urban areas, the official said. The senior administration official said the U.S. hasn’t yet decided how to proceed on this particular shipment.
News of the weapons pause comes after days of the administration downplaying the possibility that it delayed a shipment.
Israeli tanks on Tuesday took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border near Egypt, as Israel’s operation continues. That means Gaza’s two key aid corridors are shut.
The senior administration official said the paused shipment has nothing to do with the funding for Israel Congress passed last month.
Israel has long been threatening a ground assault on Rafah, and confirmed the beginning of the Rafah operation after Israel said a cease-fire proposal Hamas agreed to is “far from meeting Israel’s core demands.”
Cease-fire talks are continuing in the Middle East and CIA director Bill Burns is in Israel Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United States’ decision to pause the weapons shipment — and a senior administration official’s willingness to share the reasoning for the pause — point to the Biden administration’s growing concern over how Israel’s actions are harming Palestinian civilians.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov. 5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.
“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.
CBS News
In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states.
“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30.
In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite.
“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”
At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Vikings fans pack Fridley brewery to watch London game
UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell says Gaza is a “hellscape for children”
Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Vikings fans pack Fridley brewery to watch London game
UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell says Gaza is a “hellscape for children”