All of a sudden, Democrats are talking about Gaza and the Israel arms pause

For the longest time, Democrats have sounded like Susan Collins talking about Donald Trump when it came to Israel’s actions in Gaza: they wring their hands, express great dismay, and then do little to stop a catastrophic bombardment. Then they voted to give aid to Israel anyway.

Tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have now died in the packed region, most of them women and children.

Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’splans to attack Rafah seem to have given Democrats — not just President Joe Biden — the fortitude to draw a line in the sand.

This week, President Biden’s administration paused its shipping of 1,800 bombs weighing around 2,000lbs (907kg) and 1,700 bombs weighing 500lbs (227kg) to Israel. The shipment was due to arrive in the Middle Eastern country last week.

The White House seemed to know that the move would cause a huge controversy on Capitol Hill. Indeed, when Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the pause, he carefully chose his words, noting that the US commitment to Israel remains “ironclad”.

“We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of the ongoing events in Rafah,” he said.

When further pressed, he added: “We’re assessing. We have not made any final decisions on this yet, but to answer your questions, yes, there are some things we are taking a closer look at.”

It seems that the Biden administration’s actions helped Senate Democrats who previously criticised the Israeli government’s actions find their nerve.

In February, amid the first reports that Israel was considering attacking Rafah, Senator Elizabeth Warren told The Independent that Israel “should not be attacking