Israel has criticised US President Joe Biden for threatening to stop certain arms supplies to Israel if it invades the crowded Gaza city of Rafah.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces seized Rafah’s border crossing into Egypt, which has served as the main entry point for aid into besieged Gaza.
However, Biden on Wednesday said that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there.
Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”
“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities,” Biden told CNN, in his starkest warning to Israel since the start of the war.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs,” Biden said. “It’s just wrong.”
The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs, according to a senior U.S. administration who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Reacting on Thursday, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said on public radio in Israel’s first reaction to Biden’s warning.
“This is a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war,”
Erdan said Biden’s comments would be interpreted by Israel’s foes Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah as “something that gives them hope to succeed”.
“If Israel is restricted from entering an area as important and central as Rafah where there are thousands of terrorists, hostages and leaders of Hamas, how exactly are we supposed to achieve our goals?” he said.
“This is not a defensive weapon. This is about certain offensive bombs. In the end, the State of Israel will have to do what it thinks needs to be done for the security of its citizens.”
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said his government would pursue its goals in Gaza despite the US threat.
“We will achieve complete victory in this war despite President Biden’s pushback and arms embargo,” he said in a statement.
“We must continue the war until Hamas is totally eliminated and our hostages are back home. This involves conquering Rafah completely and the sooner the better.”
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