Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners demanded that Israel invade Rafah, despite US President Joe Biden’s warning that Washington would stop supplying the large weapons that the Israeli military has used extensively during its seven-month war with Hamas.
Extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on Thursday that Israel has invaded Rafah, the city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, said the military operation currently underway on the eastern edge of Rafah “must continue.” . to victory, despite and in some ways precisely because of the Biden administration’s resistance and the halting of arms deliveries.”
In a message on . . will prevent Israel from defending itself.”
The issue has become the deepest rift between a U.S. president and an Israeli prime minister since Ronald Reagan withheld weapons in 1982 to slow Israel’s offensive in Beirut. House Democrats have for months called on Biden to use the Jewish state’s dependence on U.S. military aid to shape Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in a way that will help protect Palestinian civilians.
A political adviser to Netanyahu told the Financial Times that the Israeli military has sufficient “operational capacity to achieve its war goals” but that the course of the hostage negotiations will determine the course of the next few days.
The Israeli military was still deployed in eastern Rafah on Thursday, where Palestinians reported intermittent shelling. Biden told CNN that he does not view Israel’s current operation in the eastern areas near the Israeli and Egyptian borders as crossing his red line regarding a major offensive in the city itself.
“I have made it clear that if they go to Rafah…” . . I’m not supplying the weapons,” Biden told CNN.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X: “Israel will continue the fight against Hamas until its destruction.”
More than a million Palestinians have sought refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip from the months-long war between Hamas and Israel. Conditions there remain dire and have deteriorated sharply since Israeli troops seized control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a key channel for humanitarian aid.
Tens of thousands fled following an evacuation order from Israeli forces on Sunday, but the so-called Mediterranean humanitarian zone where the IDF directed them had few resources to support an influx of displaced people, aid groups said.
The IDF also returned to the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City overnight, with airstrikes by the 99th Division clearing the way to attack Hamas infrastructure. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told a conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening that Hamas fighters had regrouped in the northern areas of the besieged enclave ahead of a possible Rafah offensive by Israel.
Residents of Zeitoun, which was devastated during Israel’s first ground invasion last year, reported heavy shelling and clashes, including mortar fire from Palestinian militant groups. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 60 people have been killed since last night.
The US has opposed Israel’s plans to attack Rafah, instead hoping to help broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza and reach a ceasefire lasting at least six weeks.
But with the outcome of those talks still uncertain, Biden publicly warned Israel that Washington would cut its arms supplies depending on its behavior in Rafah – a step his administration had previously been unwilling to take.
CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to visit Cairo on Thursday, Israeli radio station KAN reported. He is continuing days of shuttle diplomacy to narrow the gap between Hamas and Israel via a temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Israel sent ground troops to the east of Rafah on Monday morning and occupied the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. They have threatened to expand the operation in a city they describe as Hamas’ last significant stronghold.
According to Israeli officials, the halt in arms shipments marks the first time the U.S. has halted a possible arms shipment since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people.
Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Jewish state launched its retaliatory offensive against the militant group, according to local health authorities. According to Israeli authorities, of the 240 hostages captured on October 7, 132 – both Israeli and foreign nationals – remain in captivity.
The Biden administration decided last week to withhold the shipment after discussions about how Israel would meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah failed to fully address Washington’s concerns.
A senior U.S. official said the process that led to the delivery pause began in April, when the Pentagon ultimately withheld 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs.
The most destructive US-supplied bombs in Israel’s arsenal have attracted international attention because their use can result in heavy civilian casualties. The U.S. military has used 2,000-pound bombs sparingly in its recent military operations in the region.
“We are particularly focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in densely populated urban areas, as we have seen in other parts of the Gaza Strip,” the senior U.S. official said.