The United States will resume shipments of 500lb bombs to Israel, a US official told the BBC.

A joint shipment of 2,000lb and 500lb bombs had been paused since May because of White House concerns over the use of the munitions in the crowded city of Rafah and other parts of Gaza.

The US has now clarified that the 500lb bombs had only been held up because they were “co-mingled" in the same shipment as the 2000lb bombs. The lower-impact 500lb bombs will now be "moving forward as part of the usual process".

The planned resumption of bomb shipments comes as Israel presses ahead with military operations throughout the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, it dropped leaflets instructing “everyone" in Gaza City to go south to shelters in the Deir al-Balah area, warning that Gaza City remained a “dangerous combat zone”.

The US is accused of complicity in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza over its continued military support for the regime.