Abdullah Abu Deif (Cairo)
Regional spokesman for the US State Department, Samuel Warburg, affirmed the United States’ commitment to the security of Israel and the stability of the region, and said: “President Joe Biden and his administration were clear in their position on ground operations in Rafah,” and given concerns regarding the humanitarian impact of such operations, Biden decided not to provide some Types of weapons that might be used in a large-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Warburg explained in statements to Al-Ittihad that this decision does not include all weapons, but rather relates to certain types that may directly affect the civilian population in crowded areas. At the same time, the United States continues its strong support for Israel’s security by providing the necessary weapons and equipment that guarantee its defense against all weapons. Threats: We stress that any suspension of arms shipments is a temporary measure aimed at assessing and ensuring that the use of these weapons is taking place in a context that supports diplomatic efforts to achieve peace.
According to a session in the US Congress, in which the US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Jenkins, was heard, the US-Israeli dispute revolves around preventing a large-scale attack on the city of Rafah due to the high population density, which means an increase in the number of civilian casualties, which the United States opposes.
At the same time, during a hearing held by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she indicated that a review had been conducted into the issue of supplying weapons and military equipment to Israel worth one billion dollars, and talk was about a temporary suspension of shipments.
Earlier, President Biden said during an interview with CNN: The United States will stop arms supplies to Israel if the latter launches a major military operation in Rafah, calling on Israel not to carry out major ground operations without evacuating civilians.
Despite this, analysts considered Biden’s decision to stop sending an important arms shipment to Israel on the sidelines of the widespread military escalation in Gaza as a turning point in American-Israeli relations, after the occupation army targeted the city of Rafah, which is inhabited by more than one and a half million residents and displaced persons from the northern Gaza Strip.
In this context, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken faced criticism in Congress yesterday from the right and left in Congress regarding policy towards Israel. Republicans accused President Joe Biden’s administration of failing Israel, while Democrats said it was not doing enough to help civilians in Gaza. Republicans criticized Biden for saying this month that he would delay sending a shipment of bombs to Israel and consider withholding other shipments if Israeli forces launched a large-scale attack on the crowded city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s support for Israel and at the same time stressed its focus on alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Blinken said: “In the Middle East, we stand with Israel in its efforts to ensure that what happened on October 7 does not happen again, and we are doing everything in our power to end the terrible human suffering in Gaza and prevent the conflict from expanding.”
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