Breaking News: Biden: US will not provide Israel with weapons for Rafah offensive

Concern for civilians Biden: US will not provide Israel with weapons for Rafah offensive

May 9, 2024, 12:45 a.m

US President Joe Biden is threatening Israel with further restrictions on the supply of American military equipment. The United States would not provide Israel with the weapons for a military offensive in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Biden said in an interview with the US broadcaster CNN.

US President Joe Biden has threatened Israel not to supply the country with certain weapons during a major offensive in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. This included, among other things, artillery shells, Biden said in an interview with the US broadcaster CNN. In Rafah, more than a million people have sought refuge from the fighting between Israel’s army and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas. There are also said to be four Hamas battalions there. Israel’s war cabinet therefore decided on the long-awaited ground offensive on Monday, and Israeli soldiers advanced into parts of the city on Tuesday night.

On CNN, the US president said the Israeli military had not yet “advanced into the population centers – what they have done is right on the border.” He made it clear to Netanyahu and his war cabinet that they could not count on US support “if they actually go to these population centers.” It is “simply wrong” – and the USA cannot provide the weapons and artillery for it. “The bombs that the United States delivered to Israel and are now releasing were used to kill civilians,” Biden continued.

Hours earlier, the USA had already suspended an arms shipment to Israel. The US State Department said further restrictions were being considered. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed to a congressional committee that the suspended shipment included 1,800 907-kilogram bombs and 1,700 226-kilogram bombs. At a press conference, the White House did not want to comment on the scope of the delivery.

Biden’s choice of words became sharper

The president’s recent announcement that he is prepared to make American weapons dependent on Israel’s actions represents a turning point in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. “His admission that American bombs were used to kill civilians in the Gaza Strip, “was an acknowledgment of the United States’ role in this war,” commented CNN.

Biden has recently come under increasing pressure, including from members of his own party, to restrict arms deliveries in view of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So far, however, he has resisted these demands and supported Israel’s efforts to take action against Hamas. However, he has sharpened his choice of words towards the Israeli leadership in recent weeks and has repeatedly called on Netanyahu to better protect civilians in Gaza and to allow more aid deliveries into the sealed-off coastal strip.

In the CNN interview, he also complained that many people had forgotten what happened in Israel in October and triggered the conflict. He also made it clear that the US government would continue to ensure that Israel had sufficient military equipment for its own defense, such as the Iron Dome missile defense system.