Israeli officials defiant after Biden weapons warning on Rafah assault
Al Jazeera
Prime Minister Netanyahu say Israel would ‘fight with our fingernails’ to achieve war objectives despite US pressure.
Israeli officials have struck a defiant tone after US President Joe Biden warned that the United States would not provide weapons for a full-scale ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are hemmed in with no safe way to leave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in televised remarks on Thursday that Israel, which is heavily reliant on US weapons shipments, would “fight with our fingernails” if necessary.
“Hamas [hearts] Biden,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right security minister, wrote in a social media post.
The US has consistently provided Israel with military support throughout the campaign in the Gaza Strip, defying growing international and domestic pressure and sidelining concerns over alleged violations of international law by Israeli forces.
