Biden warns U.S. will stop sending weapons to Israel if Netanyahu orders attack on Rafah

U.S. President Joe Bidenfor the first time publicly vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces make a major invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday, ahead of an expected resumption tomorrow of ceasefire talks in Cairo.

"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons," Biden, whose administration has repeatedly asked Israel for its plan to protect civilians in Rafah, said in an interview with CNN.

Biden acknowledgedthat U.S. bombs provided to Israel have killed Gaza civiliansin theseven-month-longoffensive aimed at annihilating Hamas.

WATCH | Biden's warning for Israel:

Biden threatens to stop weapons shipments if Israel invades Rafah

23 days ago

Duration 3:03

U.S. President Joe Biden has warned it will halt weapons shipments to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders an invasion of Rafah one of the last refuges for more than a million Palestinians in Gaza.

Biden's comments,his starkest to date, increase the pressure on Israel to refrain from a full-scale assault on Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge after fleeing combat farther north in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Rafah operation would go ahead. Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are there.

Israel, meanwhile, continued tank and aerial strikes on southern Gaza after moving in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route.

Biden has been under pressure from his fellow Democrats and growing campus protests to deter Israel from invading Rafah. His support of Israel has become a political liability as the president runs for re-election.

WATCH | Israeli military enters Rafah:

Pressure on Israel to reach ceasefire deal

24 days ago

Duration 2:44

As Israeli tanks roll through the southern Gaza city of Rafah after rejecting Hamas's ceasefire offer, the country's leaders are facing increasing pressure from both inside and out to reach a deal to stop the fighting.

The U.S. is by far the biggest supplier of weapons to Israel, and it accelerated deliveries after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 that triggered Israel's offensive in Gaza. Biden said U.S. weapons for Israel's defence, such as for its Iron Dome anti-missile system, would continue.

U.S. officials confirmed on Wednesday that Washington paused delivery of a shipment of bombs to Israel because of the risk to civilians in Gaza.

Israel's UNambassador, Gilad Erdan, called that decision "very disappointing" but said he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel.

Ceasefire talks continue

Hamas said late on Wednesday it would not make more concessions to Israel in the truce talks.

In Cairo, delegations from the Palestinian militant group,Israel, theU.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting sinceTuesday.Citing a source familiar with the matter, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera TV reported early on Thursday that areas of disagreement were being resolved and there were signs that an agreement will be reached, without giving details.

But Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas's political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the group would not go beyond a ceasefire proposal it accepted on Monday. It would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children detained in Israel.

Israelon Monday declared that athree-phase proposalapproved by Hamaswas unacceptablebecause terms had been watered down.It did not respond immediately to the Hamas statement.

The U.S. said earlier that Hamas had revised its ceasefire proposal and the revision could overcome an impasse in negotiations. Just a few hours before Hamas's latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart.

"We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough they should do what they can to get to a deal," U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israelon Oct. 7 killingabout 1,200 people and abductingabout 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas has led to a seven-month-long military campaign that has so far killed 34,789 Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Hamas fighters, Israeli forces battling

Hamas said its fighters on Wednesday were battling Israeli forces in Rafah's east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long-abandoned airport.

WATCH | 'Ironclad' support for Israel:

'You're not alone,' Biden says to Jewish community

24 days ago

Duration 0:28

U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking Tuesday at an event to commemorate victims of the Holocaust, said his commitment to the Jewish people and the right of Israel to exist as an independent state is 'ironclad even when we disagree.

Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people on Wednesday, medics said. Residents said an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded 16 others in western Rafah.

The Israeli military said it troops had discovered Hamas infrastructure in several places in eastern Rafah and were conducting targeted raids in Rafah and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

The UN, Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursion into Rafah will result in a humanitarian catastrophe.

A UNofficial said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation that is "disastrous for the humanitarian response" in Gaza, where more than half the population issuffering catastrophic hunger.

Palestinians have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine.

"The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble," Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene.