US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that his administration will not support Israel or provide it with arms if it launches an offensive against Hamas in populated parts of Rafah.
“I’ve made it clear to Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and the war cabinet: They’re not going to get our support if they go [into] these population centers,” Biden told CNN.
When asked, “Have those bombs been used to kill civilians in Gaza,” Biden responded they had. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which [Israel] goes after population centers,” the US President said, without elaborating on the strikes in which they were killed.
Earlier, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee the US had already paused one shipment to Israel of payload munitions due to concerns over Rafah.
Though, Biden underscored the US commitment to Israel’s security. “We going to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks like [the one that] came out in the Middle East recently,” he said.
“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’ve walked away from its ability to wake war in those areas [Rafah],” Biden added.
