The US confirmed the suspension of sending a shipment of weapons to Israel so that they would not be used in Rafah. President Joe Biden said Israel will not have Washington’s support if it invades the city in the southern Gaza Strip.
The news reporting the suspension of US weapons supplies to Israel were confirmed on Wednesday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a hearing at a Congressional committee. In testimony, the head of the Pentagon said that he was left to send “a shipment of high-caliber ammunition”.
“We have been very clear (…) from the beginning that Israel must not launch a large-scale offensive against Rafah without taking into account and without protecting the civilians on the battlefield,” said Austin.
The Pentagon has not yet decided what will happen to the ammunition shipment that is on hold, but Austin reiterated Washington’s commitment to “continue to support Israel in its right to defend itself”.
In recent days, several news reported the suspension of arms supplies to Israel by the US because of the offensive that Israeli forces are planning for Rafah. This city, in the south of the Gaza Strip, has been the destination of more than 1.5 million internally displaced people who have been forced to flee their homes in recent months, in the face of waves of Israeli attacks on the rest of Palestinian territory.
Biden also said that Washington will not supply weapons to Israel if there is a ground offensive against Rafah. “If they enter Rafah, I will not provide them with the weapons that have historically been used against Rafah, against cities,” said the US President in an interview with CNN.
Biden was also very critical of Israeli plans to attack the city in the south of the Gaza Strip. “They will not have our support if, in fact, they enter these population centers,” he said, clarifying, however, that the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on the border “were correct.” Asked whether Israel has already crossed any of the red lines set by Washington, Biden said “not yet”.
The White House has been under enormous pressure from some sectors of the Democratic Party, as well as from a section of North American society, who demand an end to North American support for Israel, which they accuse of committing acts of genocide against the population civil society in Gaza.
Biden’s statements were highly criticized by the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, who said he was “very disappointed”. Biden “cannot say that he is our partner in the objective of destroying Hamas, while, on the other hand, delaying the means to destroy Hamas”, said the diplomat in a radio interview.
Despite North American opposition, Israel appears to be willing to advance on Rafah, considering that several Hamas officials are in the city. On Monday, the IDF issued a warning to evacuate 100,000 civilians from the area east of Rafah before beginning shelling that killed dozens of people.
Meanwhile, attempts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire continue in Cairo, with the presence of delegations from Israel and Hamas, but there have been no new developments yet.
A source close to the negotiations, cited by the Egyptian channel Al-Qahera, said there were signs that a deal was close to being reached, although he did not provide further details. However, one of the representatives of the political wing of Hamas, Izzat El-Reshiq, stated that the Palestinian movement will not go beyond the terms of the proposal that was accepted by the group at the beginning of the week, and which was rejected by Israel.
