US and Israel to hold meeting on Rafah on Monday: Reports

The United States and Israel are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah, Axios reported on Sunday citing three Israeli and U.S. officials.

US President Joe Biden earlier secretly authorized billions of dollars in new bombs and fighter jets for Israel in recent days, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Israel’s war on Gaza continues to rage with widespread destruction, displacement and death throughout the besieged enclave. Tel Aviv has vowed to take its offensive to the southern city of Rafah where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge despite warning of the humanitarian fallout that would ensue.

Pentagon and State Department officials said the new arms packages include more than 1800 bombs, the Post reported.

According to the report, these are 2000-pound devices that can demolish entire city blocks and are rarely used in populated areas. Israel, however, has used them extensively in Gaza.

Some Democrats, including allies of President Biden, say the US government has a responsibility to withhold weapons in the absence of an Israeli commitment to limit civilian casualties during a planned operation in Rafah, and ease restrictions on humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which is on the brink of famine.

“The Biden administration needs to use their leverage effectively and, in my view, they should receive these basic commitments before greenlighting more bombs for Gaza,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said. “We need to back up what we say with what we do.”

Last week, the State Department also authorized the transfer of 25 F-35 fighter jets and engines to Israel.

Earlier reports said the US had quietly made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel since the onslaught on Gaza began on October 7.

The arms supplies go against the US call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli regime has also cut off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Israel has killed more than 32,500 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,000 others in Gaza since the October day.