Biden warns U.S. will stop sending weapons to Israel if Netanyahu orders attack on Rafah
Washington prefers 'no major combat' in southern Gaza city, defence secretary says
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday publicly warned Israel for the first time that the U.S. would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli forces make a major invasion of Rafah, a refugee-packed city in southern Gaza.
"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah ... I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem," Biden said in an interview with CNN.
Biden's comments represent his strongest public language to date in his effort to deter an Israeli assault on Rafah while underscoring a growing rift between the U.S. and its strongest ally in the Middle East.
Biden acknowledged Israel has used U.S. weapons to kill civilians in Gaza, where it has mounted a seven-month-long offensive aimed at annihilating Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres," Biden said when asked about 2,000-pound bombs sent to Israel.
Yet Biden said the U.S. would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defence system.
The interview was released hours after U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin acknowledged publicly Biden's decision last week to hold up the delivery of thousands of heavy bombs was made out of concern for Rafah, where Washington opposes a major Israeli invasion without civilian safeguards.
Biden had pledged his complete support for Israel following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on the country, and has since sent weaponry worth billions of dollars.
Austin stressed that the U.S. commitment to Israel's defence remained "ironclad" and the decision on suspending the munitions shipment was not final.
Still, he said the U.S. prefers that "no major combat take place in Rafah" and that at a minimum any Israeli operation must safeguard civilian lives.
Battling on Rafah outskirts
Meanwhile, Hamas battled Israeli troops on the outskirts of Rafah on Wednesday. Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients.
A UN official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation that is "disastrous for the humanitarian response" in Gaza, where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger.
Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are there, but Western nations and the United Nations say a full-scale attack on the city would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.
Hamas's attack on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people with about 250 others abducted, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas has led to a seven-month-long military campaign that has so far killed 34,789 Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Austin said that Israel had to be more precise and the type of weapons used in a heavily populated area mattered.
A "small-diameter bomb, which is a precision weapon, it's very useful in a dense, built-up environment... but maybe not so much a 2,000-pound bomb that could create a lot of collateral damage," Austin said.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters there were serious concerns about an Israeli operation in Rafah given the way Israel has acted in Gaza previously "and what the impact on civilian population has been."
Miller said the U.S. was reviewing the status of other near-term arms shipments to Israel.
Biden under pressure
The conflict has left many of Gaza's 2.3 million people on the brink of starvation and sparked U.S. protests calling for universities and for Biden to withdraw support for Israel — including weapons. Democrats, including some lawmakers in his party, are also demanding Biden put more pressure on Israel.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, said Washington had paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. Austin did not detail the size or number of munitions involved.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham was among the Republicans who rebuked the Biden administration over the decision.
"This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need," Graham told Austin, adding Washington should not second-guess how Israel fights Hamas militants bent on Israel's destruction.
U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, another Republican, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Biden to drop "his politically motivated hold."
"American support for Israel cannot be in doubt, especially now," she said.
For its part, the Israeli military appeared on Wednesday to play down the arms shipment holdup, saying the allies resolve any disagreements "behind closed doors."
Ceasefire talks continue
In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to the resumption of talks on Tuesday, two Egyptian sources said.
"The talks are ongoing," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.
CIA Director William Burns traveled from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday and met Netanyahu, an Israeli official said.
Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests gaps could be closed.
The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-weapons-shipment-israel-pause-1.7197445
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