‘We will fight with our fingernails’: Netanyahu says US threat won’t prevent Gaza offensive

Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a US menace to withhold immoderate arms would not forestall Israel from continuing its violative successful Gaza, indicating it mightiness proceed with an penetration of the packed metropolis of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally.

President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to spell up with specified an cognition implicit fears it would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe successful the Palestinian enclave. On Wednesday (Thursday AEST), helium said the United States would not supply violative weapons for a Rafah offensive, raising unit connected Netanyahu.

Benjamin Netanyahu astatine a wreath-laying ceremonial marking Holocaust Remembrance Day astatine Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, successful Jerusalem connected Monday.Credit: AP

But successful a connection released Thursday, Netanyahu said “if we person to basal alone, we volition basal alone. If we request to, we volition combat with our fingernails. But we person overmuch much than fingernails.”

Israel’s apical subject spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, besides appeared to downplay the applicable interaction of immoderate arms holdup. “The service has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions successful Rafah, excessively - we person what we need,” helium said successful effect to a question astatine a quality conference.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah, wherever immoderate 1.3 cardinal Palestinians — implicit fractional the colonisation - person sought refuge. The metropolis successful confederate Gaza is besides the main hub for humanitarian operations, which person been severely hindered by the closure of Gaza’s 2 main crossings this week.

Israel says Rafah is the past stronghold of Hamas and that the service indispensable spell successful if it hopes to dismantle the radical and instrumentality scores of hostages captured successful the October 7 onslaught that triggered the war.

In an earlier effect to Biden’s decision, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote a station connected the level X with a bosom betwixt the words “Hamas” and “Biden.” He and different ultra-nationalist members of Netanyahu’s conjugation enactment a large-scale Rafah cognition and person threatened to bring down his authorities if it doesn’t happen.

Aid groups accidental a Rafah penetration would beryllium catastrophic. The UN says astir of the territory’s 2.3 cardinal Palestinians endure from hunger and that bluish Gaza is already experiencing “full-blown famine.”

Even the constricted cognition Israel launched earlier this week, successful which a vessel brigade captured the Gaza broadside of the Rafah borderline crossing with Egypt, has thrown humanitarian operations into crisis.

It besides analyzable what had been months of efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt to broker a cease-fire and the merchandise of hostages. Hamas this week said it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel says the program does not conscionable its “core” demands. Several days of follow-up talks appeared to extremity inconclusively connected Thursday.

Some analysts said Biden’s pugnacious enactment against Israel, and the rift betwixt the allies, threatened to weaken Israel’s negotiating presumption and harden Hamas’ stances. Hamas has demanded guarantees for an extremity to the warfare and a afloat Israeli withdrawal from Gaza arsenic portion of immoderate woody — steps Israel has ruled out.

“It sends a discordant connection astatine a clip erstwhile Hamas is holding retired connected a hostage woody successful the hopes that unit volition turn connected Israel and it volition summation a cease-fire without having to springiness thing successful return,” said the Israel Policy Forum, a pro-Israel organisation based successful New York.

The warfare began with Hamas’ astonishment onslaught into confederate Israel, successful which it killed immoderate 1200 people, mostly civilians, and took different 250 hostages. The militants are inactive holding immoderate 100 captives and the remains of much than 30 aft astir of the remainder were released during a cease-fire past year.

The warfare has killed implicit 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s offensive, waged with U.S.-supplied munitions, has caused wide devastation and forced immoderate 80 per cent of Gaza’s colonisation to fly their homes.

Israel’s seizure of the Rafah crossing Tuesday forced the closure of a cardinal introduction constituent for fuel, and it’s unclear erstwhile it volition reopen. The UN bureau for Palestinian refugees, known arsenic UNRWA, said it lone has capable stocks to support operations for a fewer days and has started rationing.

Israel reopened its broadside of the adjacent Kerem Shalom crossing — Gaza’s main cargo terminal — aft a rocket onslaught implicit the weekend, but UNRWA, the main supplier of assistance successful Gaza, says assistance cannot beryllium brought successful connected the Palestinian broadside due to the fact that of the information situation.

A precocious reopened way successful the northbound is inactive functioning, but lone 60 trucks entered connected Tuesday, acold beneath the 500 that entered Gaza each time earlier the war.

The archetypal assistance vessel bound for an American-built floating pier to beryllium installed successful Gaza departed aboriginal Thursday. But it’s unclear erstwhile that corridor volition beryllium up and running, and adjacent past it won’t beryllium capable to grip arsenic overmuch assistance arsenic Gaza’s 2 main onshore crossings.

Israeli soldiers enactment connected armored subject vehicles astatine a staging crushed adjacent the Israeli-Gaza border, successful confederate Israel.Credit: AP

Major Pete Nguyen, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that parts of the pier are inactive successful the Israeli larboard of Ashdod awaiting much favourable seas earlier being moved into presumption disconnected Gaza. He said the US vas Sagamore, which near Cyprus, would transport assistance to different ship, the Roy P. Benavidez, which is disconnected the seashore of Gaza.

“In the coming days, the US volition commence an planetary community-backed effort to grow the transportation of humanitarian assistance to the radical of Gaza utilizing a floating pier,” helium said.

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