Strong source reporting and collaboration put AP’s White House team out front with the highly competitive news that President Joe Biden was holding up delivery of heavy bombs to Israel over concerns that it was preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
Reporting about a potential pause in some U.S. military assistance to Israel had been swirling for days as Israel considered an all-out assault on Rafah with no definitive confirmation. After relentlessly working sources, White House reporters Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani were first to confirm that heavy bombs were being held up and why. After securing confirmation at 9:38 p.m. EDT, they jumped into action. Their alert was on the wire at 9:45 p.m. EDT, followed minutes later by a story and push alert that beat the competition by minutes — and in some cases, hours.
The next morning, Miller and Madhani, with the assistance of diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee, were again first with additional reporting that Biden had directed the hold-up, hours before Biden confirmed it himself. It was blockbuster news particularly in Israel, where AP’s reporting was widely cited until Biden publicly confirmed his decision.