Biden to halt offensive arms to Israel if Rafah is invaded
TL/DR –
President Biden has threatened to halt the supply of offensive weapons to Israel if Israeli forces invade Rafah. The White House has urged Israel to have a clear evacuation plan for civilians before taking such action, as the war has already resulted in many Palestinian deaths. In response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to destroy Hamas, Biden has expressed his frustration and suggested the U.S. might reassess its support for Israel if it fails to take more measures to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.
President Biden Threatens to Cut Off Israel’s Offensive Weapon Supply Amidst Gaza Conflict
President Biden warned on Wednesday that he would halt supplying Israel with offensive weapons such as bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces invade Rafah. This statement comes in response to widespread concern over conflict in Gaza.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of those bombs and other methods targeting population centers,” Biden expressed in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett.
Biden emphasized that if Israel proceeds into Rafah, he will stop providing the historically used weapons to handle the situation in Rafah and its cities.
The White House urged Israel against deploying forces into Rafah without a clear civilian evacuation plan. The conflict has resulted in a high death toll amongst Palestinians, with about a million refugees fleeing to Rafah due to fighting in northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to his plans to annihilate Hamas, the group controlling Gaza and responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks that killed over 1,100 Israelis. According to him, this requires targeting Hamas leaders hiding in Rafah.
Biden’s growing frustration with Netanyahu was revealed last month when he hinted in a call that the U.S. might reassess its support for Israel if it did not do more to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.
The U.S. paused a bomb shipment to Israel last week over fears of an imminent full-scale invasion of Rafah. Biden’s statements on Wednesday mark the first explicit threat to cut off offensive weapon shipments to the U.S. ally.
“We’re going to continue to ensure Israel’s security in terms of Iron Dome and their capability to respond to Middle East attacks,” Biden conveyed to CNN. “But it’s just wrong. We’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby informed reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. was closely observing Israel’s actions in Rafah, following its soldiers taking control of a border crossing there.
Kirby suggested that the operation did not equate to a full-scale military operation that U.S. officials cautioned against. The goal, Kirby explained, was to disrupt Hamas’s capability to transport arms across the Rafah border.
“How they’ve described this is not of a size, scale, duration, and scope that one could equate to a major ground operation. But again, it’s just started,” Kirby concluded.
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