President Joe Biden threatened to withhold critical weaponry if Israel moves against the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Rafah.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone into Rafah yet — 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 told CNN on Wednesday.
“It’s just wrong. We’re not going to — we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used,” he said. “I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet — they’re not going to get our support if, in fact, they go on these population centers.”
Biden reassured that the US would continue to provide Israel with defensive capabilities, such as the Iron Dome anti-missile system, to safeguard itself from attacks like the one launched by Iran last month.
Last week, the White House paused a delivery of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel. Despite constant calls from fellow Democrats to cut off support for Israel, this marks the first known instance that Biden has delayed an arms delivery since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7. However, the shipment that is currently paused is reportedly not part of the recently passed $95 billion foreign aid bill, which included $26 billion in aid to the Jewish State.
