Joe Biden has announced that he will stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons in the event of a military intervention in Rafah.

In its close but complicated relationship with Israel, the US took an unprecedented step on Wednesday, May 8. Last week, the Biden administration confirmed it had halted arms deliveries to its ally, which has been engaged in a deadly seven-month war in the Gaza Strip. These included 1,800 2,000 lb (907 kg) shells and 1,700 500 lb (226 kg) shells. Depending on Rafa’s events, other planned distributions in the future will need to be reviewed.

This is a clear warning staged by the news leaks given to Benjamin Netanyahu. “I made it clear to Bibi and the War Cabinet: if they go to the population centers they will not have our support.”warned Joe Biden in an interview with CNN that evening.

At this point, the US president insisted that the Israelis had only taken the Rafah border crossing “Problems” Along with Egypt, Washington’s indispensable interlocutor in this crisis. But in case of a large-scale operation, “We will not supply arms and artillery shells”, Joe Biden said. This is a turning point in the US administration’s total support for Israel from October 7, 2023, but not a strategic break.

In early March, the The Washington Post Almost a hundred arms deliveries have already been arranged in six months, a real flight. On April 24, Joe Biden signed into law a bill passed by Congress that provided $15 billion (€14 billion) in additional aid to Israel and the Palestinians. Of this amount, 5 billion was for the Jewish state’s three anti-missile defense systems.

Irritation, fear, question

There is no question of questioning this collection. This is considered important in light of Iran’s recent attacks against Israel with drones and missiles. On the other hand, the US questions Israel’s indiscriminate distribution of massive bombs. Very late, seven months after the start of the conflict, when we still don’t know the state of Israeli stocks, the administration finally used this lever of pressure.

The decision reflects both enthusiasm by Benjamin Netanyahu, fears about the consequences of a massive operation in Rafah, and finally the legal question of US responsibility. “These bombs killed civilians in Gaza [américaines] and other means used to attack populated areas”.Endorsed Joe Biden that day CNN.

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