Hamas commander Rafa Salama and around a 100 Palestinian civilians were killed by an MK-84 bomb in Rafah's Al-Mawasi on July 13, 2024

By Steve Holland, Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has instructed the U.S. military to release a hold imposed by Democratic former President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,

Biden had put the hold on the delivery of the bombs due to concern over the impact they could have on the civilian population, during Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave.

President Donald Trump has overturned a decision by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, to stop the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. The White House confirmed the policy change, first reported by Reuters. The hold was initially imposed over concerns of civilian casualties in Gaza's city of Rafah.

Smotrich said he has received assurances that Israel will resume the war after the first phase, during which 33 hostages held in Gaza are to return home and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. The second phase, which must still be negotiated, is to work out an end to the war and return of all remaining hostages.

Under the terms of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal , fighting will be halted in Gaza for at least six weeks. Dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, while more aid flows in .

Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the deal told Reuters on Wednesday, opening the way to a possible end to a devastating 15-month conflict.

President Donald Trump has instructed the US military to release a hold imposed by former President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, a White House source told Reuters.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli tank fire killed two Palestinians near the southern border town of Rafah, days after a ceasefire in the war-battered territory took hold. The ministry said on Thursday that Israeli shelling hit the Tel al-Sultan district west of Rafah, killing two brothers near their home.

Both the Trump and Biden administrations have publicly claimed credit for pushing the agreement over the line.

Israeli government approves ceasefire agreement. Ceasefire to begin in Gaza Sunday morning, hostages to be released in the afternoon.

In the 15 months covering the war in Gaza from my office in Cairo, the Rafah crossing is the farthest point I can go since the Israeli authorities do