Biden warns Israel that US will not supply bombs if attack on Rafah continues | War Israel and Hamas

Biden said this in an interview on Wednesday evening CNN. He communicated his decision by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“If they invade Rafah, I’m not going to supply the weapons that have been used so far in Rafah and in the cities,” Biden said. “People have been killed in Gaza with these kinds of bombs.”

Biden added that the US is still committed to defending Israel. The US will therefore still supply defensive ammunition for, for example, the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile shield. “We are not turning our hands away from Israel’s security, but we are turning away from the possibility of waging war in that area.”

Biden’s warning to Israel comes shortly after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that an ammunition supply to Israel has been put on hold due to the planned offensive in Rafah. Delivery has been delayed for at least two weeks. This concerns eighteen hundred bombs weighing almost more than 900 kilos and seventeen hundred bombs weighing more than 200 kilos.

It is “difficult and very disappointing” for Israel that the US government does not want to supply weapons if they are used for an attack on Rafah. Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said this in an interview with the public broadcaster Canwrites The Israel Times.

It is the first time since October 7 that the US government has taken such steps to prevent a major attack on Rafah. Although criticism of a possible offensive has grown in recent weeks, there have not yet been any real sanctions against the Israeli government. With Biden’s comments, he also acknowledges for the first time the role of the US in the war in Gaza, writes CNN.

The American president is under great pressure, including from members of his own Democratic Party. They want him to reduce arms deliveries to Israel.

It has not happened in the past forty years that the US has publicly denied Israel military assistance. In 1982, Ronald Reagan halted the supply of cluster bombs following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

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