J. Biden’s remarks follow reports confirmed by US officials that the US has already halted the delivery of aerial bombs to Israel out of concern that they could harm civilians in Rafah. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has emphasized that the US will continue to provide Israel with opportunities to protect itself.
In the war started by Israel against the Palestinian Islamist militant group in Hamaswhich is the answer to in Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, during which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage, the initial strikes and military operations took place in the northern Gaza Strip. Civilians abandoned them as they moved south. But now Israel has started operations against in Hamas militants also in the southern Gaza Strip. On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces distributed leaflets in Rafah urging civilians to evacuate the city’s eastern neighborhoods ahead of a limited military operation there. Israeli forces also took control of the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt at Rafah.
The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, on Thursday X claimed that around 80,000 Palestinians had left Rafah since Monday, where more than a million Palestinians had taken refuge.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the military operation in Rafah will take place in any case, because without it the goal of the started war is impossible – in Hamas destruction – achievement. Israel’s allies have expressed concern about the potential danger of such an operation to civilians who have no way to leave the Gaza Strip. But J. Biden’s public warning was the most direct. Commenting on this, Erdan asked how Israel can achieve its goals if it is not allowed to bring forces into Rafah, “where thousands of terrorists, hostages and in Hamas leaders”.
In turn, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamars Bengvirs recorded X: “in Hamas love Biden.”
