Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will “stand alone” if it has to in its war against Hamas, after the US threatened to stop sending some weapons to its ally.
President Joe Biden earlier said the US would halt offensive arms supplies to Israel if it attacks the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The Israeli prime minister said in a video statement on Thursday: “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.
“If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”
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Updates on Israel-Hamas war
Amid humanitarian groups’ fears of a full-scale invasion of Rafah, an unnamed Israeli official said Israel will press ahead with its operation there and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.
And chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel’s military has the munitions it requires for the operations.
Israel claims Rafah is Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza and has vowed to “eliminate” four battalions of fighters which it says are hiding there. But Mr Netanyahu has not yet ordered his troops to enter the city.
In recent months, Rafah’s population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of civilians seeking refuge from bombardments elsewhere in the Palestinian territory.
Most of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people are suffering from hunger and northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine”, according to the United Nations.
On Thursday, Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded areas of Rafah, according to Reuters, citing Palestinian witnesses.
Israel’s initial push into Rafah, along with Hamas attacks on Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, have disrupted the flow of aid into Gaza and raised new concerns about the dire humanitarian situation in the territory getting worse.
The reopened Erez crossing in the north is still operating, but only 60 aid trucks entered on Tuesday, far fewer than the 500 which entered Gaza each day before the war.
Also on Tuesday, Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, and it is unclear when it will reopen.
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks gathered on the eastern outskirts of the city on Thursday.
And the US State Department said it believes a major offensive in Rafah would weaken Israel’s position in hostage talks.
Washington is discussing with the Israelis amendments to a ceasefire proposal submitted by Hamas, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, adding they were working to finalise the text of an agreement.
Last week, Mr Biden halted a shipment of bombs to Israel amid fears similar weapons have caused significant civilian casualties in Gaza and would almost certainly do the same if Israel carries out a major offensive in Rafah.
UK-supplied arms are “not likely” to be used in a Rafah assault, Tom Tugendhat has insisted.
The security minister told Sky News’s Politics Hub: “I can’t go into the details of what it is but that is not likely to happen…
“I wish I could go into detail but I’m afraid I can’t. The reality is we’re dealing with a very, very different element here.”
The war began with Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, when its gunmen killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage.
Israel retaliated with an air and ground assault in Gaza, killing more than 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
More than 100 Israeli civilians were released during a ceasefire last year, but Hamas is still holding 100 others along with the remains of more than 30.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
