IDF Tanks at Rafah crossing
The American government upheld an arms shipment to Israel last week in order to pressure the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to move forward with a planned ground offensive in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. The Biden administration confirmed that it delayed a shipment of 2,000 and 500 pound bombs.
Reuters cited a “senior” Biden administration official as saying that they “began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah” beginning in April and that “As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs.”
The issue, however, was mooted when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began its long-anticipated assault on the city of Rafah Monday night. The military assault came after Israel’s War Cabinet voted unanimously to authorize it, after weeks of comments from the White House that it would oppose such a move and speculation as to whether the Netanyahu government would defy President Biden on this matter.
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The assault also came after the terrorist organization Hamas once again engaged in a disinformation campaign, just hours before the War Cabinet’s vote. Hamas announced that it had agreed to the terms of a negotiated ceasefire deal that would see the release of Israeli hostages. However, the Israeli government revealed that Hamas did not do so and instead simply made a counter-offer that it found to be unacceptable.
Among the many problems with the Hamas offer was that the organization reneged on the part of the deal that would see the release of 33 of the more than 100 Israeli hostages who have been held in captivity for more than seven months. Instead, Hamas offered to release a total of 33 living hostages together with a number of bodies of Israelis whom it killed.
On the first day of the Rafah assault, Israeli forces took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The Israeli military is attempting to close any and all routes for the resupply of Hamas, whether adobe or below ground.
The IDF downplayed the American move.
IDF Spokesman Read Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a press conference on Tuesday, “We(the IDF) are responsible for the security interests of Israel and we pay attention to the US interests in the arena.”
On the IDF’s advance into Rafah, Hagari added, “We will deal with Rafah in a way that is right for us.”
“Even after we deal with Rafah, there will be terrorism,” he added. “Hamas will move north and try to regroup, even in the coming days. Wherever Hamas returns to, both in the north and in the center of the Strip, we will return to action.”
