Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would “fight tooth and nail” to achieve war goals despite increasing U.S. pressure.
Israeli officials have struck a defiant tone after US President Joe Biden warned that the United States would not provide weapons for a large-scale ground attack on the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are trapped with no safe route to leave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Thursday that Israel, which relies heavily on U.S. arms supplies, would “fight tooth and nail” if necessary.
“Hamas [hearts] Biden,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right security minister, wrote in a social media post.
Hamas ❤️Biden
— Itamar Ben Gabvir (@itamarbengvir) May 9, 2024
The United States has provided continuous military support to Israel throughout the Gaza campaign, defying growing international and domestic pressure and overlooking concerns about alleged violations of international law by Israeli forces.
Biden said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that the US remains committed to Israel’s defense and will supply Iron Dome interceptor missiles and other defensive weapons, but if Israeli forces enter Rafah, “we will not supply weapons and artillery.” Grenades used. “
Previously, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the US would stop the delivery of heavy bombs.
The statements appeared to indicate a widening rift between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s government.
“I address both Israel’s enemies and our best friends and say: The State of Israel cannot be subjugated,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement on Thursday.
“We will remain strong, we will achieve our goals – we will beat Hamas, we will beat Hezbollah and we will achieve security.”
The talks in Cairo continue
Talks are ongoing in Cairo aimed at reaching a six-week ceasefire to allow for the release of some prisoners and an increase in aid to civilians in Gaza, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
CIA Director Bill Burns and other delegations taking part in the talks left Egypt on Thursday without an agreement.
Israel has insisted the war will continue until it achieves its goal of destroying Hamas in Gaza. Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt this week and have been surveying and carrying out airstrikes on the outskirts of the nearby town of Rafah.
So far, Netanyahu has not ordered troops to enter the city, where Israel says four battalions of Hamas fighters are stationed.
The Biden administration has consistently said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah should not move forward until there is a plan to protect the civilians housed there. Humanitarian groups said an attack would spell disaster for civilians and there was no safe option.
“That’s a decision Israel has to make, and we hope they don’t,” Kirby said of the Rafah offensive, noting that the Biden administration believes there are better ways to achieve Israel’s goal. to dismantle Hamas and to advance it.