Gaza war: Israel attacks Rafah as Biden vows to halt arms shipments – News

Talks between Qatari, US and Hamas delegations to cement a long-stalled ceasefire agreement would reportedly continue in Cairo today

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A wounded Palestinian walks on crutches as others gather at the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, May 9. – Photo: Reuters

Israel shelled Rafah on Thursday as US President Joe Biden issued his strongest warning yet on waging war against Hamas and vowed to stop arms supplies if an offensive took place on the southern Gaza town.

Israel has already defied international objections by deploying tanks and carrying out “targeted raids” in the border town where Hamas’ last remaining battalions are said to be based – but which is also crowded with displaced Palestinian civilians.

AFP Journalists reported heavy shelling in Rafah early Thursday, and the Israeli military later said it had also attacked “Hamas positions” further north in central Gaza.

In an interview with CNN On Wednesday, Biden warned that he would halt U.S. arms sales to Israel if the country continued its long-threatened ground offensive in Rafah.

Israel called the threat “very disappointing” on Thursday.

Biden told CNN that: “If they advance to Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that were used … to deal with the cities.” He added: “We will not provide the weapons and artillery shells that were used.”

The White House condemned the disruption of humanitarian shipments at the time, and the defense secretary later confirmed that Washington had suspended a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel after failing to address concerns about the Rafah incursion.

“As a result of these bombs, civilians have been killed in Gaza,” Biden said in his interview. “It’s just wrong.”

However, he insisted that the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally, would “not abandon Israel’s security.”

In Israel’s initial response to Biden’s threat, its U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called it “a difficult and very disappointing statement from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war.”

The United States, along with Egypt and Cairo, is heavily involved in talks currently underway in Cairo aimed at negotiating a ceasefire in the seven-month war.

The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it would reopen another key aid crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, as well as the Erez border crossing.

But the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said the Kerem Shalom border crossing – which Israel closed after a rocket attack killed four soldiers on Sunday – remained closed.

Late on Wednesday, the army said a soldier was slightly injured when rockets fired again at the Kerem Shalom area.

The heavy shelling in Rafah on Thursday night followed a day in which the Israeli military said it carried out “targeted attacks on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing” in the east of the city.

Civilian life in Rafah has “come to a complete standstill,” said 35-year-old displaced Gaza resident Marwan Al Masri, noting that “the streets in the western part of the city are empty.”

“We live in extreme fear and endless fear in Rafah,” said Muhanad Ahmad Qishta, 29.

“Places that the Israeli army claims are safe are also being bombed,” he told AFP.

Talks between Qatari, US and Hamas delegations to cement a long-stalled ceasefire deal would continue in Cairo on Thursday, sources said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to the Egyptian secret service.

Al Qahera Efforts are underway to “resolve points of contention in the negotiations,” he added.

A senior Hamas official said the latest round of negotiations would be “crucial.”

Hamas “insists on the legitimate demands of its people,” the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.