Biden Says He’ll Halt Offensive Weapons To Israel If It Invades Gaza
President Biden spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday, and in the interview, he issued some of the most significant warnings to America’s closest Middle East ally to date, telling Israel that he’s ready to halt offensive weapons transfers if its military launches a full invasion of Rafah.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres,” Biden said. “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.”
This is being widely interpreted to include all offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells. He spelled it out in the following:
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” Biden told CNN. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to — we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
FLAG: @POTUS Biden says for the first time that U.S. bombs provided to Israel have been used to kill civilians in Gaza.
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) May 8, 2024
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs," he tells @ErinBurnett in a @CNN interview. pic.twitter.com/SBR6lKO7mM
As The Hill underscores these comments constitute “the first time he has explicitly threatened to cut off the shipment of offensive weapons to the U.S. ally.”
