Israel will be alone, says Netanyahu after Biden’s Rafah weapons threat

Defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that his country would be “alone” if his closest ally followed through on threats to suspend arms shipments due to a large-scale invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people took refuge.

Speaking on Thursday after President Joe Biden’s warning sparked fury and infighting among its leaders, Netanyahu said Israel would “fight with its claws” to pursue its proclaimed goal of eliminating Hamas – with or without U.S. support, that until the last few months I had few doubts.

In a separate pre-recorded interview with reality TV host Dr. Phil McGraw that aired Thursday, Netanyahu noted his decades-long relationship with Biden and said, “we often had our agreements, but we had our disagreements. We managed to overcome them.”

“I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do whatever is necessary to protect our country, and that means protecting our future. And that means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah. We have no other choice.” he said.

The rupture between the two allies comes at a time when talks are stalled in a US effort for a ceasefire that would prevent a ground attack on Rafah. Israeli and Hamas delegations left Cairo without an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza and guarantee the release of hostages still held in the enclave.

With no respite in sight, Israeli forces continued to shell areas of Rafah and conduct ground operations in parts of the city.

Aid groups, doctors and local authorities have expressed growing concern that hospitals in the overcrowded southern city are overwhelmed and that food and fuel supplies are running low, even before a full-scale Israeli attack.

Israel says it must enter Rafah to fight Hamas militants hiding there, but the city is full of Palestinians sheltering in appalling conditions, many of whom have been displaced by fighting elsewhere in the enclave.

The White House said this was the core of Biden’s message to Netanyahu. “In your opinion, attacking Rafah will not advance that objective,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday night.

More than 100,000 people have already fled eastern Rafah following evacuation orders from Israeli forces, according to UNRWA, with troops carrying out ground operations in the area over the past week.