Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults Rafah in the south of Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned, the report adds.
Netanyahu responded to Biden’s ultimatum about halting delivery of U.S. weapons.
"If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "But we have much more than our fingernails."
Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons."
According to CNN, last week, Biden signed off on a pause of 3,500 bombs to Israel that administration officials feared would be dropped on Rafah.
Israeli armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations.
On May 7, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. On May 9, Israeli forces massed tanks close to built-up areas of Rafah.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.
It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.
