Israeli Airstrikes Hit Rafah in Gaza as US Warns of Weapons Suspension
Israeli warplanes struck the densely populated southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, defying a stark warning from US President Joe Biden that he would halt weapons supplies if a full-scale assault went ahead.
US officials have expressed growing concern over the civilian casualties in Israel’s offensive against Hamas, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children. The fresh strikes came as an AFP correspondent and witnesses reported Israeli attacks on multiple parts of Rafah, home to 1.4 million people, according to the United Nations.
Despite international objections, Israel has already sent tanks and conducted targeted raids in the area. The Hamas authorities have dismissed Israel’s description of the operation as limited, while Biden has warned that he will cut off certain US weapons supplies if Israel carries out a ground assault.
Israeli warplanes struck the densely populated southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, defying a stark warning from US President Joe Biden that he would halt weapons supplies if a full-scale assault went ahead.
“The tanks and jets are striking,” said Tarek Bahlul, a Rafah resident. “Every minute you hear a rocket and you don’t know where it will land.”
The US has already paused delivery of bombs to Israel, citing civilian casualties. The airstrikes have further strained ties between the allies, with protests flaring at universities across the United States over Israel’s conduct of the war.
Background of the Conflict
The Gaza war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. During their October attack, militants seized some 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 36 who officials say are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
US Response
The US has condemned the aid disruption in Gaza, and the defense secretary later confirmed Washington had paused the bomb shipment. In Israel’s first reaction to Biden’s threat, its UN ambassador Gilad Erdan called it a “very disappointing statement.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no direct mention of the US threat but said in a statement: “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.”
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, but “nowhere is safe”. On Tuesday, Israel seized Rafah’s border crossing into Egypt, which had been the main entry point for aid.
The closure of the Rafah crossing, the only one equipped for fuel deliveries, has effectively halted aid operations. “In Gaza, there are no stocks” of fuel, said Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN humanitarian office in the Palestinian territories. “That means no movement. It is completely crippling the humanitarian operations.”
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini announced late Thursday that the agency was closing its east Jerusalem headquarters after the latest in a spate of attacks by “Israeli extremists” put its staff at “serious risk”.
Peace Negotiations
Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo Thursday after what the Egyptian hosts described as a “two-day round” of indirect negotiations on the terms of a Gaza truce, Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News reported.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the head of the US delegation, CIA director Bill Burns, was also headed home.
“That doesn’t mean there aren’t still ongoing discussions,” Kirby said. “We still believe that there’s a path forward, but it’s going to take some leadership on both sides.”
Growing Frustration in Gaza
At a makeshift refugee camp in Rafah, Mazen al-Shami expressed her frustration.
“We have no money and we don’t have the means to move from one place to another again and again. We have no means at all,” Shami said.
