The US will not assist Israel in a significant invasion. Joe Biden informed CNN. Israel has used American bombs to murder civilians in Gaza.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden reiterated his administration’s intention to withhold weaponry that Israel would employ in a military invasion of Rafah and said that American bombs have been used to kill civilians in Gaza.
The southern Gazan metropolis has become the shelter for almost a million Palestinian refugees.
A spokesman for the Al Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah told ABC News that at least 30 people, including women and children, have died in the city since Tuesday. The Gaza Ministry of Health, under the control of Hamas, reports that over 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza overall.
“I am aware that you, Mr. President, have put a hold on the delivery of 2,000-pound American bombs to Israel because you are worried that they would be used in an assault on Rafah. Have those bombs killed anybody in Gaza, those lethal 2,000-pound bombs?” In a rare national network television appearance, Erin Burnett of CNN posed the question.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as the result of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden responded.
“I made it known 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 traditionally to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”
“So it’s not over your red line yet?” Burnett inquired about Israel’s recent actions in Rafah.
“Not just yet. However, we have raised the weapons. We have one cargo delayed. It’s an outdated delivery. We’ve delayed that,” stated Biden.
The Israeli incursion into Rafah was described by the White House on Tuesday as “limited in scope” thus far.
Israel seemed to minimize the United States’ decision to withhold the weapons on Wednesday.
Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari stated, “We are responsible for the security interests of the State of Israel, and we are attentive to the interest of the United States in the region.”
Regarding how far he is prepared to go to reduce US aid to Israel, Biden’s remarks on CNN were his most forthright to date.
Biden stated that the United States would “continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently.”
However, it needs to be corrected. The weapons and artillery munitions that have been utilized will not be supplied by us,” Biden declared.
Burnett also tried to ascertain Biden’s opinion of what Israel is doing in Rafah at the moment and whether he thinks it counts as a significant ground invasion, which he has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be a grave error.
“They haven’t entered the populated areas, no. They crossed the line with what they did. And it’s creating issues now with Egypt, which I’ve worked extremely hard to ensure we have a connection and assistance with,” he stated.
“But I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet; they’re not going to gain our aid if they go in these crowded centers,” he stated.
Source: abc news
