Gaza Offensive to Continue Even Without US Support: Netanyahu

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the U.S. threat to halt some weapon shipments.

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"If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone," said Netanyahu in a public speech made on Sunday's Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day and posted on his X account on Thursday.

The Israeli prime minister added that "no amount of pressure" will stop Israel from "defending itself."

During a CNN interview on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he would halt some shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where over 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden said, referring to 2,000-pound bombs. U.S. media reported that also being delayed was the transfer of 500-pound bombs.

"We're going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently," Biden said.

"But it's, it's just wrong. We're not going to -- we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells."

On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that his country had already paused "one shipment of high payload munitions" to Israel.

Washington's latest announcements, however, do not alter an incontestable fact: since the beginning of the Israeli offensive against Gaza in October 2023, the United States has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to support Netanyahu and his war actions.

“Israel has dropped almost 75,000 bombs and shells on Gaza in 200 days, twenty times more than the US aimed at Iraq in six years of war. The world's 200 bloodiest days since the Rwandan genocide. It’s not war. It’s genocide,” Mohamad Safa, a Lebanese Diplomat said.

“Rafah is now a camp of 1.5 million refugees from Gaza, who live in tents. There are 600,000 children and 50,000 pregnant women. A genocide more terrible than the previous months will happen here,” he added.