Israel expresses disappointment over Biden’s threat to halt arms sales.

Israeli officials express frustration over President Joe Biden’s threat to halt specific arms supplies to Israel amid concerns of a potential invasion of the city of Rafah.

“This is a challenging and deeply disheartening comment coming from a president we have appreciated since the start of the conflict,” expressed Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, during a public radio interview in Israel’s initial response to Biden’s caution.

Israel has ignored international objections and deployed tanks for targeted raids in the eastern regions of Rafah, leading to tens of thousands of civilians fleeing the area.

It says Rafah is home to Hamas’s last remaining battalions but the city on the border with Egypt is also overcrowded with Palestinian civilians who have been displaced as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gaza.

At least 34,904 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed as a result of Israel’s bombardment, with over 78,000 injured.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities,” Biden told news broadcaster CNN, in his starkest warning to Israel since the start of the war.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs,” Biden said. “It’s just wrong.”

Erdan claimed Biden’s comments would be interpreted by Israel’s foes Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah as “something that gives them hope to succeed”.

“If Israel is restricted from entering an area as important and central as Rafah where there are thousands of terrorists, hostages and leaders of Hamas, how exactly are we supposed to achieve our goals?” he said.

“This is not a defensive weapon. This is about certain offensive bombs. In the end the State of Israel will have to do what it thinks needs to be done for the security of its citizens.”

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has a history of violent incitement against Palestinians, said his government would pursue its goals in Gaza despite the US threat.

“We will achieve complete victory in this war despite President Biden’s push back and arms embargo,” he said in a statement.

“We must continue the war until Hamas is totally eliminated and our hostages are back home. This involves conquering Rafah completely and the sooner the better.”

Journalists reported heavy shelling in Rafah early Thursday, and the Israeli military later said it was also striking further north in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces seized Rafah’s border crossing into Egypt, which has served the main entry point for aid into besieged Gaza.