Biden: Civilians Killed in Gaza ‘As a Consequence’ of US-supplied Weapons
US holding up further deliveries of big bombs to Israel ahead of planned Rafah attack
President Biden, for the first time, acknowledged that weapons supplied by the United States have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians, since Israel began its current military operations in Gaza.
The president also confirmed that his administration is holding up further shipments of powerful 2000-pound bombs to Israel ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goal of attacking the southern city of Rafah.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza — most of them young children and women — since Israel began its current military operations following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Approximately 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, but Netanyahu now plans to assault the city despite Biden warning him not to.
Biden has come under heavy pressure from many other Democrats to do much more to curtail the slaughter of Palestinian civilians.
Now he’s holding up at least some weapons transfers to Israel.
Biden was asked about the use of US weapons in Gaza Wednesday, during an interview with CNN host Erin Burnett.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden said. “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven‘t gotten to Rafah yet — they go into Rafah, I‘m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem.
“We‘re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks like came out of the Middle East recently. But it‘s just wrong. We‘re not gonna supply the weapons and artillery shells that have been used” to wage war in densely populated urban centers, the president added.
The Iron Dome is the name of Israel’s national air-defense system.
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