President Biden warned on Wednesday that he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons such as bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces launched an invasion of Rafah, drawing a clear line amid protests over the conflict in Gaza.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs and other ways they attack population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview.
“I have made it clear that if they go to Rafah – they have not yet gone to Rafah – if they go to Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with this problem,” Biden added.
The White House has urged Israel not to send forces to Rafah without a clear plan to safely evacuate civilians, as the war has already left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead. Around a million refugees have settled in Rafah after fleeing fighting in northern Gaza.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant about plans to destroy Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and orchestrated the October 7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis. And he says that requires going after Hamas leaders hiding in Rafah.
Biden has grown increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu in private, and last month suggested in a call with the prime minister that the US might reassess its support for Israel if it did not do more to protect civilians and aid workers.
The USA supposedly paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week due to concerns of an imminent full-scale invasion of Rafah. But Wednesday’s comments represent the first time he has explicitly threatened to cut off offensive weapons shipments to the U.S. ally.
“We will continue to ensure that Israel is secure in terms of the Iron Dome and its ability to respond to the attacks that have recently come from the Middle East,” Biden told CNN. “But yeah, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to provide the guns and the artillery shells.”
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the US was closely monitoring Israel’s actions in Rafah after its soldiers took control of a border crossing in Rafah.
Kirby indicated that it did not reach the level of a large-scale military operation that American officials had warned against. The operation, Kirby said, was aimed at stopping Hamas from sending weapons across the border to Rafah.
“The way they described this does not have a dimension, scale, duration and scope that can be equated to a large ground operation. But then again, it’s just beginning,” Kirby said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
