Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Thursday that Israel would fight “alone” if necessary. Joe Biden has threatened to suspend certain arms deliveries to Israel if his army enters Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed this Thursday, May 9, the day after American threats over arms deliveries to its historic ally, that if Israel had to “stand alone”, it would fight “alone”, according to a press release from his office .
“If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have already said, if necessary, we will fight with our nails,” declared Benjamin Netanyahu, after US President Joe Biden threatened to suspend certain deliveries of arms to Israel if its army entered Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip.
“Enough weapons” for Rafah
The Israeli army “has enough weapons to accomplish its mission in Rafah”, assured Thursday Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the army. On May 2, against a backdrop of growing international criticism against the war waged by Israel in the Gaza Strip, Benjamin Netanyahu had already affirmed that the Jews must be able to “defend themselves” because “no one will protect (them).
Benjamin Netanyahu has been insisting for months that he is determined to launch a large-scale ground offensive against the city of Rafah where, he claims, the last battalions of Hamas are hiding, but where, according to the UN, there are also 1 .4 million Palestinians, the vast majority displaced by seven months of Israeli bombings and fighting which left the rest of the Gaza Strip in ruins.
“We will remain firm”
During a speech at a ceremony on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant seemed to respond implicitly to Joe Biden, also reaffirming Israel’s determination to annihilate Hamas with or without American support.
“I am speaking to Israel’s enemies as well as our best friends: the State of Israel cannot be subjugated, neither can the armed forces and the defense apparatus,” he said. “We will stand firm, we will achieve our goals: we will hit Hamas, we will hit Hezbollah and we will achieve security.”
For Israel, we must “conquer Rafah” in order to eliminate Hamas
Alongside Qatar and Egypt, the United States is mediating which has been trying for months to convince Israel and Hamas to conclude a truce intended to allow in particular the release of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons in exchange for hostages kidnapped by Hamas. during its bloody attack in southern Israel on October 7.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the far right and staunch supporter of an offensive on Rafah, assured that Israel “will achieve total victory in this war despite President Biden’s retreat and the arms embargo “.
Eliminating Hamas “implies conquering Rafah completely and the sooner the better,” he said. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said on Thursday Joe Biden’s threat was “difficult to hear and very disappointing”.
