Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “isolate” if necessary, in a veiled message responding to President Biden’s threat to confiscate arms.
“If Israel must be isolated, we will be isolated,” Netanyahu said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “We will fight with our claws if we have to. But we have more than our claws.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks are similar to those he made in his Holocaust Remembrance Day speech on Sunday. He also reposted his remarks on his own social media pages on Thursday.
Biden warned Israel on Wednesday that it would cut off supplies of bombs, artillery shells and other offensive weapons if it moves forward with its invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled.
Biden said civilians were being killed in Gaza “as a result of these bombs” and said the US had “made clear” that it would not supply weapons if Israel entered Rafah.
Netanyahu’s message was aimed at the growing number of countries criticizing Israel’s destruction of Gaza, the Associated Press reported.
His message to world leaders is that “no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum, can stop Israel from defending itself.”
The White House has urged Israel to come up with a plan to evacuate refugees before entering Rafah, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has remained adamant about plans to destroy Hamas, which he claims is hiding in Rafah. ing.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade the city, which is also a hub for humanitarian operations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold and that the IDF must be called in to secure the remaining hostages captured on October 7.
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