1 week Ago By Brett Samuels
( The Hill ) — President Biden on Wednesday warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces launch an invasion of Rafah, laying down a clear line amid outcry over the conflict in Gaza. “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. “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 added.
The White House has urged Israel against sending forces into Rafah without a clear plan to evacuate civilians safely, as the war has already left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead. About a million refugees have settled in Rafah after fleeing fighting in northern Gaza. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant about plans to destroy Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and orchestrated the Oct.
7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis. And he says that requires going after Hamas leaders hiding out in Rafah. Biden has grown increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu in private, and last month suggested in a call with the prime minister that the U.
S. could reassess its support for Israel if it did not do more to protect civilians and humanitarian workers. The U.
S. rep.
