Israel-Gaza war live: US says weapon transfers continuing as normal after Netanyahu claims some being withheld

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed the US is withholding weapons and implied this was slowing Israel’s offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Netanyahu, in a short video, spoke directly to the camera in English as he lobbed sharp criticisms at US president Joe Biden over “bottlenecks” in arms transfers.

“It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding, “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”

Netanyahu also claimed that the US secretary of state Antony Blinken, in a recent visit to Israel, said he was working around the clock to end the delays.

However, Blinken said Tuesday the only pause was related to a delayed delivering of certain heavy bombs since May over concerns about Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza.

“We, as you know, are continuing to review one shipment that president Biden has talked about with regard to 2,000-pound bombs because of our concerns about their use in a densely populated area like Rafah,” Blinken said during a state department news conference. “That remains under review. But everything else is moving as it normally would.”

According to the AP, Netanyahu did not elaborate on what weapons were being held back, and the Israeli military declined to respond to a request for comment. Ophir Falk, a foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu, deferred questions on details to the US. government, reports the AP.

Responding to Netanyahu’s claim on Tuesday, the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “We generally do not know what he’s talking about. We just don’t.”

She added that the US is having “constructive discussions” with Israel about the paused shipment of heavy bombs and that it’s the only transfer being delayed.

A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels which was believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities said early on Wednesday. It is the second ship sunk in the rebels’ campaign, says the Associated Press (AP).

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned-and-operated Tutor sank in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) said in a warning to sailors in the region.

“Military authorities report maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel is believed to have sunk.”

The Houthis, quoting foreign reports in media outlets they control, acknowledged the sinking. The US military did not acknowledge the sinking, nor did it respond to requests for comment, reports the AP.

The Tutor came under attack about a week ago by a bomb-carrying Houthi drone boat in the Red Sea. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesperson, said on Monday that the attack killed “a crew member who hailed from the Philippines.” The Philippines has yet to acknowledge the death, but the man who had been aboard the Tutor has been missing for over a week in the Red Sea, which faces intense summertime heat.

In March, the Belize-flagged Rubymar, carring a load of fertiliser, sank in the Red Sea after taking on water for days after a rebel attack.

The sinking of the Tutor in the Red Sea marks what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign targeting shipping through the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have maintained their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK. However, many of the ships they have attacked have little or no connection to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

It has gone 10.30am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. This is our latest live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that the US is withholding weapons and implied that it is slowing Israel’s offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Netanyahu, in a short video on Tuesday, said it was “inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” adding: “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”

Netanyahu also claimed US secretary of state Antony Blinken, in a recent visit to Israel, said he was working around the clock to end the delays.

However, Blinken responded by saying the only pause was related to certain heavy bombs that have been delayed since May over concerns about Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza.

More on that in a moment, first here is a summary of the latest developments:

• The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has said a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon, as Israel generals announced late on Tuesday that they had signed off planning for an offensive into Lebanon. The escalating rhetoric came after the release of video footage from a Hezbollah surveillance drone’s overflight of the northern city of Haifa, which included images of sensitive sites and civilian neighbourhoods.

• US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that Washington was seeking to avoid “a greater war” following an escalation in fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military along Lebanon’s southern frontier in recent weeks. Hochstein described the situation along the border as “serious”

• Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said his nation did not seek “escalation”, but cautioned that there should be an end to “the ongoing violations of Lebanese sovereignty and the acts of systematic killing and destruction committed by Israel”. On Monday an Israeli spokesperson said they would secure the return of displaced Israelis to their homes “militarily or diplomatically”.

• The UN says it has been unable to distribute aid entering Gaza from the Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing because of lawlessness and panic among hungry people in the area, despite Israel’s daytime pause in military activity. “Fighting is not the only reason for being unable to pick up aid … The lack of any police or rule of law in the area makes it very dangerous to move goods there,” spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

• A series of Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of at least 17 Palestinians in two of the Gaza Strip’s historic refugee camps, as tanks advanced further into the southern city of Rafah, according to reports from residents and medics.

• The UN human rights chief on Tuesday warned that the rights situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was drastically deteriorating, while there had been “unconscionable death and suffering” in Gaza. Volker Türk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said as of 15 June, 528 Palestinians, 133 of them children, had been killed by Israeli security forces or settlers since October, in some cases raising “serious concerns of unlawful killings”

• The conflict in Gaza has created unprecedented soil, water and air pollution in the region, a UN report said on Tuesday. Israel’s official social media account accused the UN, under the leadership of secretary-general António Guterres, of becoming “a tool for Hamas propaganda”.