Israel criticises Joe Biden’s threat of arms freeze over Rafah

Tel Aviv/Beirut, May 9 (IANS/DPA) Israel on Thursday criticised US President Joe Biden's threat of an arms freeze in the event of a further advance in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Far-right Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X on Thursday that the Palestinian Islamist Hamas loves Biden. To make his message clear, he placed a heart emoji between the words "Hamas" and "Biden."

Israeli opposition politicians criticised Ben-Gvir for endangering Israel with such statements.

However, Ben-Gvir is not a member of the war cabinet and is therefore not directly involved in key decisions in the Gaza war.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN, Biden had said that the US would not supply the weapons for a full-scale invasion of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, which is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

The US government had already withheld a delivery of ammunition because of Israel's actions in Rafah.

US media reported that the delivery comprised 3,500 bombs, including 2,000-pound bombs.

According to analysts, Israel is using these in the fight against Hamas, for example to destroy the Islamists' underground tunnels.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made it clear to Congress on Wednesday that Washington expects Israel to take precise action in Gaza to protect civilians. However, 2000-pound bombs could cause "collateral damage."

Senior Israeli officials have expressed "deep frustration" over the withheld delivery and warned that it could jeopardize indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages, two informed sources told the Axios news portal.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X: "Israel will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction. There is no war more just than this."

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote in a statement that Israel had received a reminder "that our war of independence is still ongoing."

In the course of its founding in 1948, the state was also confronted with a US arms embargo. "Today, once again, we will achieve a complete victory in this war, despite President Biden's resistance and an arms embargo. We simply have no other choice, because this war is an existential struggle and anything less than a comprehensive victory would jeopardise the existence of the Jewish state."

Since the Israeli army took over the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Monday, around 80,000 people have fled the city, which is overcrowded with refugees, according to UN figures.

Israel expanded its presence on Tuesday by sending troops to the eastern side of Rafah.

"The toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe," the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East or UNRWA said on X, adding: "We need a #CeasefireNOW."

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon Thursday, killed at least four people, Lebanese civil defence and security sources said.

The attack set the car ablaze on a road in the town of Baflieh in south Lebanon.

It was not initially clear whether the victims were members of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah or other militias operating from Lebanon.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the matter.

On Wednesday, Israeli strikes on two areas in southern Lebanon killed three members of the Islamic Jihad in the town Khyiam and two from he pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Adissyeh.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war seven months ago, there have been daily military confrontations between Israel's army and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon at the border.

There have already been fatalities on both sides. Mutual shelling has caused severe destruction in towns on both sides of the border, resulting in either the evacuation or departure of around 150,000 people from the combat zone.

Source: IANS