Israel remains steadfast in its war goal of destroying Hamas. However, the US ally wants to prevent a major invasion of Rafah – and is threatening consequences.
The USA has threatened to restrict arms deliveries in the event of a further advance by the Israeli army in Rafah. If the Israeli military invades densely populated parts of the city for an offensive, this will have consequences for US arms deliveries, Biden said in an interview with the television channel CNN that was broadcast on Wednesday evening (local time).
His government will not provide the weapons for a large-scale invasion of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are seeking protection. The US government had already withheld a shipment of ammunition because of Israel’s actions in Rafah. At the same time, Biden assured that the USA would fully support Israel in defending itself from attacks.
Criticism of Biden in Israel
In Israel, Biden’s threat was met with sharp criticism, especially on the right-wing edge of the political spectrum. Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote mockingly on Platform X that the Islamist Hamas loved Biden. To make his message clear, he placed a heart emoji between the words Hamas and Biden. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote in a statement that Israel had received a reminder “that our war of independence is still ongoing.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on Wednesday that the US had withheld a shipment of ammunition to the Israeli armed forces because of Israel’s actions in Rafah. US media reported that this shipment included 3,500 bombs, including 2,000-pound bombs (about 907 kg). According to analysts, Israel is using these in the fight against Hamas, for example to destroy the Islamists’ underground tunnels. Austin had made it clear that Washington expected Israel to act precisely in Gaza to protect civilians. However, 2,000-pound bombs could cause “collateral damage.”
Israel continues its fight against Hamas
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X: “Israel will continue to fight Hamas until it is destroyed. There is no war fairer than this.” The army and air force are deployed in the Al-Saitun area in the central section of the disputed coastal strip to “continue the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists in this area,” the military said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian Prime Minister Bischer al-Chasauneh warned again on Thursday at a meeting in Cairo about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of a major offensive in Rafah. Israeli soldiers also advanced into parts of Rafah on the border with Egypt on Tuesday night. According to its own statements, the army took control of the border crossing on the Palestinian side.
“The US said it wanted us to limit the operation, to hold off on a full-scale invasion. And Israel did that and is still being punished,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to Washington, as saying .
He therefore described Biden’s threat to restrict arms deliveries in the event of an invasion of Rafah as a “preemptive strike” against any Israeli measure to expand operations against Hamas in the city.
Is Israel crossing Biden’s “red line”?
In the past few days and weeks, the USA had repeatedly warned Israel’s government against a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah – Biden spoke of a “red line”. In the CNN interview, the US President argued that the Israeli military had not yet “advanced into the population centers – what they have done is right on the border.”
When asked whether, in his opinion, the red line he had defined had not yet been exceeded, Biden said: “Not yet.” However, he made it clear to Netanyahu and his war cabinet that they could not count on US support “if they actually go to these population centers.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli analysts as saying that the operation in Rafah was intended to pressure Hamas into accepting an agreement that falls short of the terrorist organization’s demands. Hamas continues to insist, among other things, on a withdrawal of Israeli troops, which Israel strictly rejects.
Difficult negotiations in Cairo
Meanwhile, negotiations over a ceasefire in the Gaza war continued in Cairo. According to media reports, William Burns, head of the US foreign secret service CIA, was also there on Thursday after speaking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Wednesday. The aim of the talks is to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Burns traveled back and forth between the various negotiation locations several times in an attempt to make progress.
The only way to continue negotiations at the moment is to continue attacking, the Wall Street Journal quoted a former head of the National Security Council in Israel as saying. “This is our way of getting them to take it seriously.” Hamas, on the other hand, accused Israel of using the negotiations as a pretext for an invasion of Rafah. According to Netanyahu, however, the Rafah operation aims to free the remaining hostages and destroy the last Hamas battalions in the city.
Great danger to civilians
According to UN estimates, a total of 1.2 million people are currently in Rafah, more than half of Gaza’s entire population. Germany has also repeatedly warned Israel not to invade the city because of the many civilians in Rafah. According to the UN, around 80,000 people have fled the city since the Israeli army advanced into the city of Rafah. People are not safe anywhere, warned the UN relief agency for Palestinians on X. The burden on those affected is unbearable. The Israeli military called on residents of the eastern part of Rafah to leave the area on Monday.
According to the Hamas-controlled coastal health authority, 34,904 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. According to Thursday, more than 78,500 people have been injured since then.
Kerem Shalom border crossing attacked again
The Rafah border crossing remains closed. Together with Kerem Shalom, he is the main bottleneck for aid deliveries to the southern Gaza Strip. For the third time in just a few days, Hamas’ military wing shelled the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Wednesday evening. The Kassam Brigades said they fired rockets at Israeli troops.
The key border crossing for delivering aid to the Gaza Strip had recently reopened after being closed for several days following a Hamas rocket attack on Sunday that killed four Israeli soldiers. According to Israel, aid supplies were again transported to Gaza via Kerem Shalom on Wednesday, but according to the UN, no new deliveries arrived in the coastal strip.
A freighter carrying hundreds of tons of aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip has now left the Cypriot port of Larnaca. As Cypriot government spokesman Giannis Antoniou said on the radio on Thursday, the freighter “Sagamore” will soon arrive in Gaza. “By the time the freighter arrives, the pier that the US is building will also be ready,” he added.
Report in the Wall Street Journal Report at Axios
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
