T he Biden administration paused a shipment of arms to Israel last week due to concerns about an imminent full-scale invasion of Rafah—the city in southern Gaza where more than 1.2 million civilians have taken refuge—despite strong international pushback.

Joe Biden paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Washington halted the load of 1,800 2,000-lb (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-lb (226 kg) bombs after Israel had not “fully addressed” US concerns about a major ground operation,

Israel’s military has ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to begin evacuating, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent