USA halts weapons shipment to Israel

The US has halted a sizeable weapons shipment to Israel due to worries about their potential use in Rafah.

An official, who requested anonymity, told US media on Tuesday that the shipment included 1,800 bombs of 2,000 pounds (907 kilogram) and 1,700 bombs of 500 lb. (227 kg).

The statement came after the Israeli military said that its tanks had entered Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and seized control of the city’s critical border crossing with Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he had instructed troops to act in Rafah, following his government's rejection of a cease-fire proposal supported by Hamas a day earlier. Later, both Israel and Palestinian group Hamas reported fighting between their sides in eastern Rafah, a city of last refuge for some 1.5 million people.