The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S., a senior administration official said Tuesday. The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs, according to the unnamed official, with the focus of U.S. concern being the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting. The official said the decision to pause the shipment was made last week and no final decision had been made yet on whether to proceed with the shipment at a later date. The report comes a few days after the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was delaying a shipment worth $260 million dollars to Israel, which contains, among other things, about 6,500 JDAM ("Heavy Hail") kits that turn simple aerial bombs into "smart bombs." It was also reported that since March, the Biden administration has not advanced the process of transferring to Israel additional weapons worth about a billion dollars, in transactions that include tank ammunition, military vehicles and mortar missiles.