2024-05-08 20:36:22
The American president justified his decision to suspend the delivery of bombs to his Israeli ally Wednesday afternoon on CNN: “Civilians were killed in Gaza because of these bombs. It’s bad.”
By suspending the delivery of bombs to Israel, for the first time since the start of the war, the United States is walking its talk and sending a clear message to its allies about Rafah. The strength of American support will depend on how Israel conducts its military operations in the Palestinian city, tested against Israel’s deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7.
The American president, who was interviewed on CNN on Wednesday, warned that he was “will not deliver” certain weapons to Israel, in particular “artillery shell” and one-ton bombs, in case of major attacks against Rafah, an unprecedented warning from Washington. “If they enter Rafah, I will not give them the weapons that have always been used (…) against cities”he declared. “We will not deliver the weapons and artillery shells used” until there.
This is the first time the 81-year-old Democrat has publicly laid down conditions for American military support for Israel. When asked about the US decision last week to suspend the delivery of a shipment of bombs, he said: “Civilians have been killed in Gaza because of these bombs”and added: “It’s bad.” However, he declared that the United States would continue “make sure Israel is protected by an iron dome”its anti-aircraft defense shield.
I made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet, that they will not have our support if they go into the population centers. »
Joe Biden
When asked about the military operation that Israel has already launched in Rafah, a town in the southern Gaza Strip where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge, Joe Biden said that it had no effect “population centers», thus implying that this is not a major attack that requires a reaction from his side. When asked if Israel ever crossed a red line in Rafah, he replied: “Still.” “I made it clear to Bibi (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Editor’s note) and in the war cabinet, they will not have our support if they really go into the population centers.”the American president further declared. “We are not separating from Israel’s security, we are separating from Israel’s ability to go to war in these areas”he declared.
The Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has already taken smaller steps to show its displeasure with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including imposing sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers, but has resisted calls to this to condition his military aid.
The American Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, declared before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that this delivery of ammunition and bombs would be suspended. “We intercepted a shipment of high payload ammunition” for Israel, but we don’t “made a final decision regarding the action to be taken with this cargo”he declared.
A shipment of 1,800 bombs weighing almost a ton
According to a senior American official on condition of anonymity, this shipment was made up “Bombs 1800 2000 pounds (almost a ton, Editor’s note) and 1,700 500-pound (226 kg) bombs. suspended last week, as the Israeli army prepared to launch an attack “limited” according to her in Rafah, which some fear is a prelude to a major attack.
And the United States is reviewing other deliveries, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, judging that Israel had not yet sent “large-scale operation”. The announcement comes at a sensitive time for the Biden administration, which is expected to submit a report to Congress this week on whether Israel’s use of US weapons complies with international law and, therefore, respects American law. .
Washington has repeatedly warned against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, strongly declaring that it is against any major attacks in the southern city in the Gaza Strip, where 1.4 million Palestinians are seeking refuge, many of whom have fled from the bombing of the North. The impact of this decision is yet to be measured, however.
It will be difficult for Netanyahu to completely abandon the operation in Rafah. »
Raphael Cohen, of the RAND Research Center
“I can’t imagine that American displeasure at the prospect of an invasion of Rafah is not very much in the calculation of the Israeli government”thinks Jon Alterman, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. “At the same time, the Israelis also make their own calculations”he adds.
Another expert, Raphael Cohen, from the RAND Research Center, would like to believe: “Despite Netanyahu’s rhetoric, Israel takes American pressure very seriously”recalling for example that Israel opened several crossing points in the Gaza Strip under pressure from the United States, including recently at Kerem Shalom. “That said, I think it will be difficult for Netanyahu to completely abandon the Rafah operation”, he said. Despite international criticism, the Prime Minister of Israel promised to launch this offensive, which he believes is necessary to destroy the last battalions of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian territory.
On a strictly military level, everything depends “from the depths of Israel”, which keeps a large number of bombs but some of its stocks have been depleted during the seven months of war, according to Raphael Cohen. In the past, American pressure forced Israel to bend. In 1991, Israel reluctantly participated in the Madrid conference that encouraged a peace process with the Palestinians, after then-President George HW Bush blocked US loan guarantees for settlement construction.
3 billion dollars in annual American aid
With $3 billion a year, the United States is Israel’s main donor of funds and arms and even shipped munitions at the start of the war. If Washington has no problem questioning long-term security assistance, such as the anti-aircraft shield “Iron Dome”, which showed its great effectiveness after the attack on Iran on April 14, there are more and more calls to condition American military aid. In addition, in the middle of an election year in the United States, and while pro-Palestinian demonstrations are shaking many American campuses.
The opposition of the Republic promoted this decision “scandalous” to suspend the delivery of arms. The left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders called for the American president “use all your levers” put pressure on Israel. “We can no longer be involved in this terrible war against the Palestinian people”he said in a press release.
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