Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
United States President Joe Biden said on May 8 that his administration will not support Israel or provide it with offensive weapons if it launches a large-scale operation against the Hamas Movement in populated parts of the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.
“I’ve made it clear to Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and the war cabinet: They’re not going to get our support if they go [into] these population centers,” Biden told CNN.
The Israeli military launched earlier in the week a limited operation in Rafah, where more than 1,4 million Palestinians have been taking shelter, and captured a key border crossing on the border with Egypt.
Around a week before the operation, the U.S. halted the transfer of a shipment of bombs to Israel over concerns that they could be used in the attack on Rafah or other parts of Gaza.
Asked by CNN if American bombs were used by the Israeli military to kill civilians in Gaza, President Biden responded they had.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which [Israel] goes after population centers,” he said.
“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, to deal with that problem,” Biden said, maintaining that the operation launched by Israel this week was limited to the Rafah border crossing, even though “it’s causing problems with Egypt.”
“But it’s just wrong. We’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells,” Biden asserted.
He clarified that the U.S. will continue supplying Israel with Iron Dome missile interceptors and other defensive weapons to ensure that the country can respond to attacks from adversaries across the Middle East.
“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in [populated] areas,” he said.
Asked if Israel has crossed his red line regarding its conduct in Gaza, Biden responded “Not yet,” but indicated that the Israeli military was as close as it has ever come following last week’s weapons shipment holdup.
Israel’s limited operation in Rafah has so far claimed the lives of 65 civilians, mostly women and children and wounded more than 280 others.
The U.S. has provided Israel with billions worth of military aid as well as intelligence support since the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack which led to the war in Gaza. The Israeli war on the Strip has so far claimed the lives of at least 34,844 Palestinians.
President Biden’s soft warning was not well received in Israel. In the first reaction by an Israeli official to the warning, United Nation Ambassador Gilad Erdan said that it was a “difficult and very disappointing remark.”
“Of course any pressure on Israel is interpreted by our enemies as something that gives them hope. There are many Jewish Americans who voted for the president and for the Democratic Party, and now they are hesitant,” Erdan said speaking to Israel’s Kab public radio.
Later, Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party likened Biden’s warning to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Munich Pact with Nazi Germany.
“Joe Biden can be [Winston] Churchill but he is choosing to be Chamberlain, he chooses dishonor and will get both dishonor and war,” Eliyahu tweets, quoting Churchill’s famous critique of Chamberlain.
President Biden’s warning to Israel was not the result of some major shift in U.S. policy on the war, but rather motivated by worries that Washington’s blatant support for the war will make it complicit in Israel’s attempt to genocide Palestinians in Gaza.
It is highly unlikely that President Biden will be able to stick to his warning if the Israeli military expanded its operation in Rafah due to internal pressure from Israel lobbyists who maintain a very strong presence in Washington and within the administration itself.
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humanity is overrated
i more senile than biden–i believe all cnn wikipedia
let’s pretend that the satanic americans, who commit war crimes, are worried about something, while they arm and finance and give carte blanche to the zionists, to exterminate the population in gaza. they arrest anyone who criticizes the people chosen by santanas, while they continue to send weapons and soldiers to gaza
santanas? you mean like the guitarist?
the usa and israel are dark stains on mankind
– has israel crossed any red lines? – there is and never will be any red lines when it comes to israel
the conclusion that biden is doing this because he fears being part of the genocide is wrong. the reason is that people are threatening his admin with desertion, voters are threatening to not vote. the israeli’s usually control support thru the media, but biden sees the voter writing on the wall. just delegates not supporting him was a wake up. israel’s control is slipping.
israel will be applying all the pressure they can bring, because this is make or break for them. whether they can bring enough to make biden sacrifice his campaign is the question. the biggest worry should be those repugs that threaten the icc. they’ve sold their souls and they can influence the rest of our mercenary congress, who can over-ride biden.
president biden, like all other us politicians, wears a collar that says; property of israel.
did anyone happen to read the news in washington that the republican leadership is threatening sanctions on the icc if they attempt to arrest any israeli officials… and this is all made possible after a bunch of dancing israelis were discovered “observing” the destruction of the world trade center 23 years ago and than set free for what they knew….
finish them bibi!!!
heheheh
nobody listen to senile amerikan