US State Department: No suspension of high-payload weapons supply to Israel

In an interview with NBC, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that US has not yet suspended the transfer of high-payload weapons to Israel, but is studying such a possibility.

“So first, we have been holding back – and we’re in active conversations with Israel about – the provision of heavy or high-payload weapons, large bombs, because of the concern that we have about the effect these weapons can have when they’re used in a dense urban environment like Rafah.  We’re discussing that with Israel right now,” Blinken said, Caliber.Az reports citing the US State Department.

“Second, what the President said is that if Israel goes in with a major military operation in Rafah, in that case there are certain systems that we will not provide to Israel that would aid in – aid that effort, because it’s something that we do not want to be part of given the damage that it would do to civilians, and again, not to achieve a durable, lasting, effective result for Israel and for its security.  That’s what the President said.  We’ve said that in conversations with our Israeli partners.  It’s unfortunate that leaked out, but the President responded forthrightly to a question when he was asked about it,” the Secretary of State added.

“It’s important, first of all, to remind ourselves that Hamas could have ended this on day one.  Well, this never, of course, should have happened.  There was actually a ceasefire before October 7, on October 6, that Hamas destroyed in the most barbaric way possible, humanly imaginable.  But every day after that, Hamas could have decided to give up the hostages, stop hiding behind civilians, put down its weapons, and all of this would have been over.

It still has that possibility.  The quickest way for this to end is for Hamas to give up the hostages.  We will get a ceasefire that we can build on – and build to something more lasting and more durable.  The different teams continue to talk.  It remains our view that the fastest way to get to a ceasefire, the fastest way to get hostages home, is through an agreement, and we’re determined every single day to pursue that and to try to get it to happen.  I think you can question whether Hamas actually wants to get this.  It would also be the best way to make sure that we can really surge humanitarian assistance and better protect civilians in Gaza.  Hamas purports to be interested in that; its actions certainly demonstrate the opposite," Blinken noted.