The Biden administration has continued to send military assistance to Israel in the days since halting a shipment of bombs amid concerns over an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, two U.S. officials familiar with the shipments told NBC News.
The shipments that have been sent to Israel in recent days have included both offensive and defensive weaponry, the officials said, with the offensive weaponry including small arms.
President Joe Biden’s threat to suspend arms shipments over a full-scale invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million people have taken refuge, led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to defiantly vow his country would “stand alone” if needed.
The rupture between the two close allies has fueled domestic criticism of Biden, and comes as talks stalled in a U.S. push for a cease-fire with Hamas. So far U.S. officials have said the Rafah operation is limited in scope, but have not ruled out Israel defying the president and expanding it.
Speaking after Biden’s warning sparked fury and infighting among his senior figures, Netanyahu said Thursday Israel would “fight with our fingernails” in order to pursue its proclaimed goal of eliminating Hamas — with or without the backing of the United States, which until recent months had been in little doubt.
In a separate taped interview with reality show host Phil McGraw that aired later Thursday, Netanyahu noted his decadeslong relationship with Biden and said “we often had our agreements, but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them.”
“I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country, and that means to protect our future. And that means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah. We have no other choice,” he said.
It comes after the White House last week stopped an arms shipment to Israel of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs.
But the White House pushed back on criticism from Republicans in Congress. “Our actions have been done consistent with the law. And this action doesn’t involve any failure to spend, or even delay in spending, funds appropriated by Congress. We have been clear that every last cent of those funds will be spent consistent with legal obligations, including with respect to the recently passed supplemental,” a senior administration official said.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Hamas delegations left Cairo without a deal to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages still held in the enclave. A senior Arab negotiator directly involved in the talks told NBC News they had taken a turn for the worse. “It’s a mess,” the negotiator said, adding that they had deteriorated after Israel entered Rafah. “Everything collapsed after entering Rafah,” he said.
When asked about the effectiveness of CIA Director William Burns’ efforts at shuttle diplomacy, the source said “he tried with the Israelis and it seems it was a bad day for him.”
With no truce in sight, Israeli forces have continued to bombard areas of Rafah and conduct ground operations in parts of the city. NBC News’ crew on the ground reported that Israeli tanks were operating in the area around the Rafah crossing Friday on the main road dividing the eastern and western sections of the city.
More than 100,000 people have now fled eastern Rafah following evacuation orders from Israeli forces earlier this week, the United Nations said early Friday.
Aid groups, doctors and local officials have expressed mounting concern that hospitals in the overcrowded southern city are being overwhelmed and that supplies of food and fuel are running short even before a full-scale Israeli assault.
Israel says it must enter Rafah to fight Hamas militants hiding there, but the city has been filled with Palestinians sheltering in dire conditions, many who have been displaced by fighting elsewhere in the enclave.
The White House said this was at the core of Biden’s message to Netanyahu. “Smashing into Rafah in his view will not advance that objective,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday night.
