American-made weapons, including heavy bombs, have been essential to Israel’s war effort since the country was attacked by Hamas and other militant groups on October 7. But Biden has been under growing domestic pressure to rein in Israel’s military as the death toll has risen in Gaza. Now there are more than 34,000.
And in his comments Wednesday in an interview with CNN, Biden acknowledged for the first time that US bombs had killed innocent civilians in the conflict.
American concerns have only increased since the Israeli military sent tanks and troops into the eastern part of Rafah on Monday night, taking control of the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli forces have stopped short of entering built-up areas of the city, but Netanyahu and others have said such an operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas battalions there.
On Tuesday, US officials said Biden had withheld 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs that he feared could be dropped on Rafah. The administration was reviewing whether to withhold future transfers, including guidance kits that convert so-called dummy bombs into precision-guided munitions, officials said.
In addition to the bombs, Biden said the United States would not supply artillery shells if Israel invaded Rafah’s population centers.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, described the Biden administration’s decision as “very disappointing” and “frustrating.”
“We have a cruel enemy here,” he said. “Is this the time to impose restrictions on Israel’s weapons?”
Nadav Eyal, a prominent columnist for a centrist Israeli newspaper, said Biden had essentially decided to declare an end to the war. Writing on the social media platform
During that conflict, which began in 1982, the Reagan administration suspended deliveries of cluster artillery munitions and other weapons to Israel.
“We’ve reached a boiling point,” Eyal said in a follow-up interview. “Issues that were negotiated behind closed doors have now been presented to the public in a very ugly way.”
Some analysts, however, downplayed the significance of the crisis, arguing that it was not as bad as past rifts between the United States and Israel. The breakdown of relations over the Iran nuclear deal in 2016 was “much worse,” Nagel said.
Amid the tense situation, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked the United States for supporting Israel and appeared to lash out at Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, who had posted on X, “Hamas ♥ Biden.”
“Even when there are disagreements and moments of disappointment between friends and allies, there is a way to clear up disputes,” Herzog said.
Myra Noveck contributed with reports.