Senior Israeli officials have warned their US counterparts that the Biden administration’s decision to pause some weapons shipments to Israel could jeopardise hostage negotiations, news portal Axios reported on Wednesday citing two unidentified sources briefed on the matter.

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan said on Wednesday that he did not believe the US would stop supplying arms to Israel but called Washington’s decision to hold up some weapons shipments “very disappointing”, even frustrating.

US President Joe Biden “can’t say he is our partner in the goal to destroy Hamas (in the Gaza war) while on the other hand delay the means meant to destroy Hamas”, Erdan said in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 News.

With his approval of fresh US aid involving weapons and equipment worth $827 million — along with an assertive speech against antisemitism at a Holocaust remembrance service — Biden has made clear that he remains deeply committed to Israel.

At the same time, he has signalled that there are limits to American aid and patience, suspending delivery of the heaviest of munitions over concerns about seeing them used during a possible full-scale assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

This week, Israel’s military warned about 110,000 civilians to flee eastern Rafah, and its tanks moved in, taking over the Gaza side of the city’s border crossing with Egypt. Half a day after that move, the White House confirmed the pause in bomb deliveries.

Israeli officials mostly promoted the former and ignored the latter. Speaking on Tuesday night, the military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, described coordination between Israel and the US as reaching “a scope without precedent”.