(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed Thursday, the day after American threats on 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 Mr. Netanyahu, after US President Joe Biden threatened to suspend certain arms deliveries to Israel if his army entered Rafah , a town in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army “has sufficient weapons to accomplish its mission in Rafah,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, army spokesperson, assured Thursday.
On May 2, against a backdrop of growing international criticism against the war waged by Israel in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Netanyahu had already affirmed that 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 town 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.
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 declared. “We will stand firm, we will achieve our goals: we will hit Hamas, we will hit Hezbollah and we will achieve security.”
Alongside Qatar and Egypt, the United States has been mediating 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, on Thursday said Joe Biden’s threat was “difficult to hear and very disappointing”.