Biden vows to halt weapons transfer to Israel if Rafah attacked | REUTERS

US President Joe Biden publicly vowed for the first time on Wednesday to stop giving Israel weapons if its forces make a full-scale invasion of Rafa a city packed with refugees fleeing the war elsewhere in Gaza in an interview with CNN Biden said quote I made it clear that if they go into Rafa I'm not supplying the weapons he acknowledged in the interview that American bombs provided to Israel have killed civilians in the 7-month-old offensive in Gaza which came in response to hamas's attack on October the 7th the comments are the president's strongest public language to date and underscore growing Rift between the US and its closest Middle Eastern Ally the interview was Ed hours after defense secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed to the Senate that the US had at least temporarily paused a planned delivery of thousands of heavy bombs and that Biden made the decision to hold on the weapons over concerns for Rafa that marks the first such delay since the US Administration pledged Ironclad support to Israel you have to protect the people the civilians in the battle space otherwise uh you create more terrorists uh uh going forward the United States is by far Israel's biggest supplier of weapons with Congress last month approving $26 billion in extra funding for the country Biden said the US would continue to provide defensive weapons including for Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system but referring to civilian casualties he added it's just wrong we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells the president is under growing pressure at home over American support for Israel as he runs for reelection this year there was no immediate comment from Israel on Biden's remarks but Israeli authorities have insisted Rafa must be hit saying thousands of Hamas Fighters are there its forces have continued tank and aerial strikes on Southern Gaza after moving in on Tuesday via the Rafa border crossing with Egypt which cut off a vital Aid Route

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Length: 2min 8sec (128 seconds)

Published: Thu May 09 2024