President Biden has threatened to withhold weapons from Israel if it goes forward with a full-scale invasion of Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. The Biden administration is concerned about the potential for civilian casualties in such an operation.
President Biden is vowing to withhold weapons from Israel if the Jewish State goes forward with its invasion of Rafah.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview released Wednesday.
"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in 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 said.
The Biden administration is concerned about the potential for civilian casualties in such an operation.
Israel has been carrying out airstrikes on Rafah in preparation for a ground invasion. The Israeli government has said that it is determined to eradicate Hamas from the city, even if it loses Israel its allies.
"If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with God’s help, together we shall be victorious."
The Israeli government's determination to enter Rafah is unpopular with Western powers, which have repeatedly urged the Jewish nation to avoid the operation due to the likely massive loss of civilian lives involved.
Palestinians have fled the city en masse as the conflict comes to a boiling point, with over 100,000 internally displaced refugees setting up tent cities and temporary shanty towns outside Rafah.
Airstrikes were fired into Jabalya camp in the north of Gaza overnight. Further strikes occurred at the same time in the city of Khan Younis. A total of twelve people were killed in the bombings.
Four IDF soldiers were reportedly killed in northern Gaza on Friday. The incident was not related to the ongoing conflict surrounding Rafah.
The conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for weeks, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Biden administration has been trying to broker a ceasefire, but so far its efforts have been unsuccessful.
