Biden says US will withhold weapons from Israel if it invades Rafah
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[May 09, 2024]
By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Wednesday publicly warned Israel for
the first time that the U.S. would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli
forces make a major invasion of Rafah, a refugee-packed city in southern
Gaza.
“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 – that deal with that problem,” Biden said in an
interview with CNN.
Biden's comments represent his strongest public language to date in his
effort to deter an Israeli assault on Rafah while underscoring a growing
rift between the U.S. and its strongest ally in the Middle East.
Biden acknowledged U.S. weapons have been used by Israel to kill
civilians in Gaza, where Israel has mounted a seven-month-old offensive
aimed at annihilating Hamas. Israel's campaign has so far killed 34,789
Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and
other ways in which they go after population centers," he said when
asked about 2,000-pound bombs sent to Israel.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be
used in Rafah and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800
2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs.
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Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, earlier this week called
Washington's decision to delay shipments "very disappointing" although
he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel.
Israel this week attacked Rafah, where more than one million
Palestinians have sought refuge, but Biden said he did not consider
Israel’s strikes a full-scale invasion because they have not struck
“population centers.”
The interview was released hours after Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin
III acknowledged publicly Biden’s decision last week to hold up the
delivery of thousands of heavy bombs was taken out of concern for Rafah,
where Washington opposes a major Israeli invasion without civilian
safeguards.
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U.S. President Joe Biden addresses rising levels of antisemitism,
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Israel's campaign in Gaza was triggered by Hamas ' Oct. 7 attack on
Israel. That killed about 1,200 people with about 250 others
abducted, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza,
according to Israeli tallies.
The United States is by far the biggest supplier of weapons to
Israel, and it accelerated deliveries after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led
attacks.
In 2016, the U.S. and Israeli governments signed a third 10-year
Memorandum of Understanding that provides $38 billion in military
aid over the 10 years, $33 billion in grants to buy military
equipment and $5 billion for missile defense system. Last month,
congress approved $26 billion in additional funding for Israel.
Biden said the U.S. would continue to provide defensive weapons to
Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of
Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of
the Middle East recently," he said. "But it’s, it’s just wrong.
We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and
artillery shells."
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Costas Pitas; Editing by Eric
Beech, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast.)
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