The American president justified his decision to suspend a delivery of bombs to his Israeli ally on Wednesday evening on CNN: “Civilians have been killed in Gaza because of these bombs. It’s bad.”
By suspending a 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 ally about Rafah. The strength of American support will depend on how Israel conducts its military operations in the Palestinian city, tested in the face of the deadly Israeli offensive 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 “would not deliver” certain weapons to Israel, in particular “artillery shell” and one-ton bombs, in the event of a major offensive against Rafah, an unprecedented warning from Washington. “If they enter Rafah, I will not deliver to them the weapons that have always been used (…) against cities”did he declare. “We will not deliver the weapons and artillery shells that were used” until there.
This is the first time that the 81-year-old Democrat has publicly set conditions for American military support for Israel. Asked about the US decision last week to suspend the delivery of a shipment of bombs, he commented: “Civilians were killed in Gaza because of these bombs”and added: “It’s bad.” However, he assured that the United States would continue to “ensure that Israel is protected by Iron Dome”its anti-aircraft defense shield.
I made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet, they will not have our support if they actually enter the population centers. »
Joe Biden
Asked about the military operation that Israel has already launched in Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge, Joe Biden said that it did not affect “population centers”, therefore suggesting that this is not a major offensive requiring a reaction on its part. Asked whether Israel had ever crossed a red line in Rafah, he replied: “Not yet.” “I said it clearly to Bibi (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Editor’s note) and in the war cabinet, they will not have our support if they really enter the population centers”further affirmed the American president. “We are not distancing ourselves from Israel’s security, we are distancing ourselves from Israel’s ability to wage war in these areas”did he declare.
President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration has already taken more modest steps to demonstrate its displeasure with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including imposing sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers, but has so far resisted calls to condition its military aid.
The American Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, confirmed on Wednesday before a parliamentary committee the suspension of this delivery of ammunition and bombs. “We interrupted a shipment of high-payload ammunition” for Israel, but we do not have “made a final decision on the action to be taken with this cargo”did he declare.
A cargo of 1,800 bombs weighing almost a ton
According to a senior American official on condition of anonymity, this cargo composed “1800 2000 pound bombs (nearly a ton, Editor’s note) and 1,700 500-pound (226 kg) bombs. was suspended last week, as the Israeli army prepared to launch an offensive “limited” according to her in Rafah, which some fear as being the prelude to a major assault.
And the United States is reviewing other deliveries, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, while judging that Israel had not yet launched “a large-scale operation”. The announcement comes at a delicate time for the Biden administration, which is expected to submit a much-anticipated report to Congress this week on whether Israel’s use of U.S. weapons complies with international law and, thereby, respects the American law.
Washington repeated warnings against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, forcefully asserting its opposition to any major offensive in the city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge, many having fled the bombings in the North. The impact of this decision, however, remains to be measured.
It will be difficult for Netanyahu to completely abandon the operation in Rafah. »
Raphael Cohen, from the RAND Research Center
“I cannot imagine that American dissatisfaction with the prospect of an invasion of Rafah does not weigh heavily in the calculation of the Israeli government”estimates Jon Alterman, of 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, wants 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 condemnations, the Israeli Prime Minister promised to launch this offensive, which he believes is essential to destroy the last battalions of the Islamist movement in the Palestinian territory.
On a strictly military level, everything depends “from the depths of Israel’s stocks”, which keeps a large quantity of bombs but some of whose stocks have been exhausted by the seven months of war, notes Raphael Cohen. In the past, American pressure has forced Israel to bend. In 1991, Israel reluctantly participated in the Madrid conference that led to 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 annually, the United States is Israel’s main donor of funds and weapons and even sent a shipment of munitions at the start of the war. If there is no question for Washington of calling into question long-term security aid, for example for the anti-aircraft shield “Iron Dome”, which demonstrated its formidable effectiveness after the attack on Iran on April 14, calls are becoming more and more numerous to condition American military aid. What’s more, in the middle of an election year in the United States, and while pro-Palestinian demonstrations are shaking many American campuses.
The Republican opposition castigated this decision “scandalous” to suspend the delivery of weapons. Left-wing senator Bernie Sanders called on the American president to “use all your levers” to put pressure on Israel. “We can no longer be complicit in this horrible war against the Palestinian people”he said in a press release.
