Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will stand alone and “fight with our nails”, defying US threats to further restrict arms deliveries if Israeli forces proceed with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Thursday after Israeli and Hamas delegations concluded ceasefire negotiations in Cairo. It is unclear whether negotiations broke down or were simply suspended. Hamas said early Friday that “the ball is now fully in Israel’s hands,” but Israel insisted that Hamas’s agreement fell far short of its demands.
A series of meetings this week failed to reach an agreement, raising fears of an imminent Israeli attack on Rafah.
Prime Minister Netanyahu the previous night echoed US President Joe Biden’s public warning that if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major attack on the city, the US would not provide bombs or shells to support the operation. He seemed to have ignored it.
“If we have to be isolated, we will be isolated. If we have to, we will fight with our claws. But we have more than claws,” Netanyahu said. He noted that Israel is approaching its 76th anniversary of independence, for which it must fight. “We had no weapons,” he said, referring to the 1948 war. “There was an arms embargo against Israel, but with great spirit, heroism, and our unity, we won.”
The prime minister took a more conciliatory attitude toward Biden during an hour-long interview with America’s leading self-help advocate and talk show host, Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil.
“We often agreed, but we also had disagreements. We were able to overcome them,” Netanyahu said of Sino-Japanese relations. Dr. Phil Primetime show. “I hope we can overcome it now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country,” he said.
U.S. officials had hoped a diplomatic breakthrough could be achieved in hostage negotiations for a ceasefire after Hamas announced Monday that it had accepted the deal. It remains unclear exactly what terms were accepted, and Israel, although skeptical, agreed to send a delegation to Cairo to investigate.
On Thursday, an unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying that the Israeli delegation expressed reservations about Hamas’ position and considered the series of talks in Cairo to be over.
The official said the Israeli delegation had returned from the Egyptian capital and that Israel would proceed with operations in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned.
According to Agence France-Presse, in a recording of the meeting provided to other Palestinian groups, Hamas said Israel “rejected the proposal submitted by the mediator and objected to the proposal on several core issues. ” after which the delegation departed Cairo, but the statement did not explain what differences there were between the two sides.
The White House confirmed that CIA Director William Burns was also leaving Cairo, but denied that negotiations had broken down.
National Security Spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “Mr. Burns will leave the region as planned, but talks are still ongoing as interlocutors from other delegations are in talks in Cairo.” Told. “We’re going to stay involved in the hope that we might be able to accomplish something.”
But U.S. officials are privately pessimistic about their ability to thwart the attack on Rafah, and Biden said Thursday that it would trigger further restrictions on U.S. arms supplies, particularly on bombs and artillery shells.
Last week, the administration signaled its readiness to take action to thwart the Rafah attack, suspending deliveries of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs.
The Israeli Defense Forces’ chief spokesman, Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the Israeli military is capable of carrying out planned operations without U.S. support. He said: “The military is equipped with weapons for the planned mission and also for the mission in Rafah. We have what we need.”
A major attack on the city of Rafah threatens the lives of more than 1 million Palestinians who have sought refuge there and have not received critical supplies in terms of shelter, food, water or medical aid from Israel. become.
Kirby also said that the United States continues to advise Israel on how Hamas can be defeated through further surgical intervention, adding: “In our view, any large-scale ground operation in Rafah is actually “It would strengthen the hand of Hamas, not Israel, at the negotiating table.”
He added that more civilian deaths in Rafah would give further ammunition to Hamas’ “twisted narrative” about Israel.
The closure on Monday of the two crossings into southern Gaza, Rafah and Kerem Shalom, has already made the survival of civilians even more precarious, with the Israeli Defense Forces on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing east of Gaza City. began action to occupy the area.
Medical staff say the Rafa is running low on fuel and the hospital is at risk of a flat tire.
Kerem Shalom reopened on Thursday, but aid trucks were unable to use the road due to safety concerns and damage from the fighting.
Meanwhile, little aid enters Gaza through the northern gate in Erez, according to the United Nations and aid agencies. Erez is close to where hundreds of thousands of people stranded by Israeli military attacks are at imminent risk of starvation.
Cyprus announced Thursday that an emergency relief vessel had left the island for a U.S.-built floating pier, where humanitarian supplies would be unloaded and distributed. The Pentagon said the pier and causeway that will eventually be anchored to the Gaza coast are currently located off the coast of Ashdod port.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the floating structure was “waiting for suitable weather and safety conditions to move into position and begin unloading relief supplies.”
Rabbi Tovey, director of Project Hope, a medical relief organization working in Gaza, said the U.S. plans for the pier remain a mystery to most aid groups.
“It’s unclear where the pier will be installed, and the whole logistics, who will receive the goods, what the delivery plan will be, etc., are still very unclear,” Torvey said.
U.S. officials said the capture of the Rafah crossing was a tactical operation and casualties were low. But the United Nations said an escalation of IDF attacks on the Rafah area had caused an exodus of more than 100,000 people, making it Gaza’s largest population movement in months. If a major Rafah attack were to occur, the mass displacement of people would be even greater.
In his remarks Thursday, Kirby detailed what Israeli operations could trigger further arms restrictions by the United States. “We all know that large-scale ground operations, in terms of the size of the forces involved, the types of operations that involve large forces, large movements, large numbers of civilian casualties, and large amounts of infrastructure damage. I think we understand what it is: a more precise, more targeted, more limited kind of operation like what we’re seeing now at the Rafah crossing.”
He added: “A lot will depend on what Israel does with Rafah and its plans for Rafah.”
Kirby said Thursday that the Israeli military was “still receiving information.” [weaponry], a huge majority of what they need to protect themselves. ”
“In fact, we can also assist them in targeting their leaders, including Mr. Shinwar. Frankly we are continually working with the Israelis,” Kirby said. , added in what appears to be the first confirmation by the United States that the United States was providing aid to Israel. The Israelis have targeted Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis.
