Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed on Monday that both President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel that it would be left “alone” and denied critical military support ahead of Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah, located in southern Gaza.
During a private meeting with Israel’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Netanyahu revealed that Biden had issued these threats as early as April, cautioning him against launching the offensive. According to Netanyahu, Biden told him, “You will be left alone” if Israel proceeded with the attack. In response, Netanyahu reportedly told Biden, “We will do it alone.”
Secretary of State Blinken also visited Israel shortly after the phone call and reiterated the warning, telling Netanyahu that the U.S. would withhold vital military aid, saying, “You will not have weapons.” Netanyahu responded defiantly: “We will fight with our hands and nails,” he stated.
The conflict over the Rafah assault comes amid rising tensions over the number of civilian casualties that would result from the offensive. Biden and Blinken expressed concern about the high Palestinian death toll. Still, Netanyahu argued that the U.S. had overestimated the number of civilian deaths, insisting that Israeli efforts to protect civilians had been successful.
He claimed that out of an estimated 20,000 civilian deaths predicted by some, only a tiny number of non-combatants were killed in Rafah, citing the “lowest” ratio of combatants to non-combatant casualties.
In a joint address to Congress in July, Netanyahu told lawmakers that only 24 civilians had been unintentionally killed in Rafah, attributing this to an incident involving shrapnel from a Hamas weapons depot. He praised Israel’s efforts in evacuating civilians from the area despite earlier predictions that thousands would be killed.
Biden had publicly announced on May 8 that the U.S. would not supply sure bombs to Israel in the lead-up to the Rafah assault, citing the potential for mass civilian casualties. However, after facing significant political pushback, Biden reversed the decision and resumed the shipment of munitions to Israel. Neither the White House nor the State Department commented immediately about Netanyahu’s revelations.
