WATCH LIVE: GOP senators respond to Biden’s threat to cut off Israel’s weapons supplies for the Rafah attack

Republican senators will hold a news conference Thursday in response to President Joe Biden’s threat not to supply Israel with weapons that the country will use in its attack on Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza and a refuge for over a million Palestinian civilians have fled the war that has destroyed the rest of the territory.

The event is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET. Watch it in the player above.

Biden said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that the US was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply Iron Dome interceptor missiles and other defensive weapons, but if Israel moves in Rafah, “we will not supply the weapons.” Artillery shells used .”

Biden acknowledged that “civilians have been killed in Gaza” by the kind of heavy bombs the U.S. has delivered – his first acknowledgment of what government critics have loudly protested against, even as he still shied away from taking responsibility. His threat to withhold artillery shells built on earlier revelations that the U.S. would stop a shipment of heavy bombs.

The United States has provided enormous amounts of military aid to Israel in the past. This has accelerated following the October 7 Hamas attack in which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed and about 250 were captured by militants. Biden’s comments and his decision last week to stop sending heavy bombs to Israel are the most striking manifestations of increasing openness between his administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden said Wednesday that Israel’s actions around Rafah had “not yet” crossed its red lines, but reiterated that Israel must do far more to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza.

The shipment was to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs (900 kilograms) and 1,700 500-pound bombs (225 kilograms), according to a senior U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter discuss. The focus of US concern was the larger explosives and their use in a densely populated urban area.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs and other attacks on population centers,” Biden told CNN. “I have made it clear that if they invade Rafah – they have not invaded Rafah yet – if they invade Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that were used in the past to fight Rafah, to fight the cities became. who are dealing with this problem.”

“We are not deviating from the security of Israel,” the Democratic president continued. “We are depriving Israel of its ability to wage war in these areas.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the delay in weapons shipments earlier Wednesday, telling the Senate Defense Budget Subcommittee that the U.S. had suspended “a shipment of high-payload munitions.”

“We will continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Austin said. “However, we are currently reviewing some short-term security assistance deliveries related to the events in Rafah.”

It also comes at a time when the Biden administration is set to make a first-of-its-kind formal verdict this week on whether the airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on aid deliveries violated international and U.S. laws that protect civilians to protect us from the worst horrors of war. A decision against Israel would further increase pressure on Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to the Israeli military.

Biden signed the pause in an order sent to the Pentagon last week, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment on the matter. The White House National Security Council tried to keep the decision from the public for several days until it had a better understanding of the extent of Israel’s increased military operations in Rafah and until Biden could deliver a long-planned Holocaust commemoration speech on Tuesday Memorial Day.

Biden’s administration began considering future transfers of military aid in April as Netanyahu’s government appeared to move closer to invading Rafah despite months of opposition from the White House. The official said the decision to pause delivery was made last week and no final decision has been made on whether delivery should resume at a later date.

US officials had refused to comment for days on the halted transfer. The news came as Biden on Tuesday called US support for Israel “ironclad,” although we disagree.