President Joe Biden vowed to withhold military aid to Israel if the country’s military enters the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Biden made the comments in an interview with CNN anchor Erin Burnett on Wednesday evening about Israel’s ongoing offensive against Hamas.
The Israeli government declared war on the terror group after the Oct. 7 terror attack killed 1,200 Israelis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a hardline stance against allowing the Islamists running Gaza to continue to use it in the future as a base to attack the Jewish state.
When pressed about the Israeli Defense Forces potentially entering the last stronghold for Hamas in Gaza following months of war against Islamic terror in Gaza, Biden drew a line in the sand.
“I want to ask you about something happening as we sit here and speak, and that of course is Israel is striking Rafah,” Burnett said. “I know that you have paused, Mr. President, shipments of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel due to a concern they could be used in any offensive on Rafah?”
She asked if those bombs had been used to “kill civilians.”
The video is below:
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden replied.
“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,” Biden added, “to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem.”
However, Biden vowed to aid for Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system to ensure the country is “secure.”
But he complained that Netanyahu’s charge to eliminate Hamas in southern Gaza had caused tensions between the U.S. and Egypt.
He concluded, “[Israel is not] going get our support if, in fact, they go into these population centers.”
Do you stand with Israel?
Biden’s comments came hours after it was reported the White House canceled a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in order to prevent a battle in Rafah.
The Times of Israel reported Wednesday night that some neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rafah had become “ghost towns” as Israeli military units approached the city.
The IDF took control of the Gazan side of Rafah’s border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday.
According to the Times, there were believed to have been four battalions of Hamas fighters in the city Wednesday, surrounded by an estimated one million civilians.
Tens of thousands have fled the area in anticipation of a potential final battle between the IDF and the group responsible for last October’s bloodshed.
The IDF said its operations in Rafah had been limited to military targets while soldiers worked to ensure aid was entering the area for civilians.
