Biden threatens to stop supplying offensive weapons to Israel if it invades Rafah

The president of U.S, Joe Bidenthreatened for the first time this Wednesday to stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons, which it acknowledged were used to kill civilians in Linkif the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuorders to invade the city of Rafa.

“I made it clear that if they enter Rafathey haven’t entered yet, I will not provide the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafato deal with cities, to deal with this problem“, declared the president in an interview with CNN.

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Specifically, Biden explained that if Israel invades Rafawill stop sending US offensive weapons such as artillery and bombs for fighter jets, but will continue to supply its ally with defensive material for the anti-missile system iron domein line with its commitment to defending the Israel.

Furthermore, for the first time, Biden recognized that weapons U.S was used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza stripwhere more than 34,000 people have been killed since the war began in October.

“Civilians died in Link as a result of these bombs and the way in which centers where there is a population are attacked”, he stated.

The statements of Biden They occurred shortly after the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austinwill confirm this Wednesday in a Senate hearing information to the press that washington had halted the shipment of a large weapons package containing high explosives out of fear of how they might be used in densely populated areas.

Until now, Biden resisted the threat to suspend the shipment of weapons to Israel, his greatest asset to pressure Netanyahu, with whom he publicly expressed his disagreement over the strategy of Rafawhere there are 1.4 million Palestinians who fled from other parts of the enclave due to the Israeli offensive.

Netanyahu insisted on his desire to invade Rafa because he guarantees that militants from the Islamic group are hiding there Hamas and, with this objective, the Israeli army Last Monday, a military operation began, ordering the evacuation of around 100,000 people.

He United States government ensured that this Israeli operation in Link has a “limited scope” and that he is not against the “large-scale invasion” that he has been warning about for months.

Biden echoed this reasoning this Wednesday and argued that the Israeli operation has not yet been directed against the urban centers of Rafa.

“They did not enter population centers. What they did was close to the border. AND is causing problems with Egypt, with whom I have worked hard to ensure that we have a relationship and can help”, he stated.

Furthermore, he assured that he had transmitted Netanyahuwho is often referred to by his surname Bibiand other Israeli leaders that U.S. support for operations in population centers is limited.

“I made it clear to Bibi and to the war cabinet: They will not receive our supportif they go within these urban centers“, Notice.

U.S It is Israel’s main arms supplier and one of its strongest allies in the world. Between 2016 and 2023, 69% of weapons imported by Israel came from the North American country, according to data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.