JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted defiantly to President Joe Biden's warning that he will withhold US weaponry to its strongest Middle East ally in case of a major invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
'If we need to ... we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary we will fight with our fingernails,' Netanyahu said Thursday.
The Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said it has the weapons it needs for its missions in Gaza, including a Rafah invasion.
'Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,' Biden had said in an interview to CNN in an apparent reference to Washington freezing shipments of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel last week.
'I made it clear that if they go into Rafah - they haven't gone in Rafah yet - if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities - that deal with that problem,' Biden said.
The President added that in addition to the 2,000-pound bombs, the U.S. will also not provide Israel with artillery shells to use in Rafah.
Responding to questions at a briefing aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Washington has paused one shipment of weapons. It consists of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. 'We are especially focused on the end use of the 2000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings, as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.'
At the same time, she added that Biden's support for Israel's defense is ironclad, and Israel has every right to go after Hamas and those responsible for October 7 massacres.
'What we do not support is a major ground operation in Rafah, a city now sheltering over 1 million people, since we believe there are better alternative ways to go after Hamas. The President has said that publicly and has communicated that repeatedly and directly to the Prime Minister.'
'We want to make sure that there is a plan that protects the lives of these innocent civilians who are seeking refuge in Rafah,' she told reporters.
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