Israeli and American officials sifted through “every single case” of weapons shipments at a meeting in Washington, D.C., clearing up any “misunderstandings” and making “real progress,” a senior administration official said.
That does not mean, however, that the U.S. is going to begin shipping the large bombs that have been paused since May, after the president aired concerns about their use in highly populated areas, like Rafah. That pause is still under review, the official said.
In terms of other weapons and supplies, though, the official said there were misunderstandings that the delegations worked through stemming from “complexities” in the U.S.’s highly bureaucratic approval system and requests for certain items to be prioritized.
“We were able to go through everything, and I think where there were some misunderstandings, those were clarified — about where certain cases might be in the course of our process, which can be complex,” the senior administration official said.
“There was real progress in a mutual understanding of where things stand, of prioritization of certain cases over others, so that we can make sure that we are moving things in ways that meet the needs of the Israelis, and with the only exception being one shipment of MK-84s [the 2,000-pound bombs] that remains paused and under review,” the official said.
This meeting comes after a video released June 18 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the U.S. of slowing weapons shipments, which the U.S. has denied.
That video was not discussed in Thursday’s meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Yaov Gallant and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
