Israel-Gaza latest: Israeli minister hits out after US weapons warning: 'Hamas loves Biden' (2024)

IDF international spokesperson Nadav Shoshani has issued a statement in response to reports aid is not getting into Gaza.

In a statement on X, Mr Shoshani said Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing after four IDF soldiers were killed.

The crossing was reopened and Hamas "fired rockets at the crossing several times again".

"Hamas has a pattern of risking civilians for their terrorist agenda," he said.

Yesterday, Israel insisted the border crossing, which allows aid into Gaza, had reopened but the UN said deliveries have still not been allowed through.

By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem

We knew he was thinking it, but now it has been said out loud.

Although we can assume the US would have told Israel in private of its decision to withhold weapons in event of a "major" Rafah invasion, to hear President Biden lay it out so publicly has shaken Israelis.

Some see it as treacherous, an outrageous move by the country's closest ally; others believe it is the predictable consequence of Netanyahu's failure to heed American advice and warnings over many months.

Netanyahu, who is yet to comment, is now faced with a dilemma: defy Biden and invade Rafah anyway, or back down and look weak in face of Israel's enemies: Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

"Bibi will say one thing and do the complete opposite," one seasoned Israeli political journalist told me earlier.

"Biden's mistake was saying it out loud, he doesn't understand the Middle East," another messaged.

"Do it, fine, but don't brag about it."

US diplomats I've spoken to in Jerusalem this morning though, say the administration has repeatedly tried to work with Israel, over seven months, and with little to show for it.

They've gently cajoled Israel to let more aid into Gaza, to design a "day-after" plan, to limit civilian casualties and to deliver a humanitarian plan for Rafah - some of these things have happened very slowly, others not at all.

The US is clearly fed up and out of patience.

The immediate concern is how Biden's announcement will affect negotiations for a ceasefire which are ongoing in Cairo.

The CIA director has just flown back to the Egyptian capital after a short visit to Tel Aviv and work is under way to close the gaps.

Logically, Hamas will now be unlikely to offer any further compromises if they think the threat of an invasion of Rafah has gone away.

So does Netanyahu try to convince the right-wing hawks in his government that his hands have been tied and that he has no other choice but to accept the deal that is on the table whilst he buys time for future action?

Or does he dial down the temperature, keep the negotiations bubbling but order the IDF to continue with "limited" actions on the edges of Rafah, all the while creeping further towards the centre without alarming the White House? Achieving some military objectives without stepping over the line.

There is a third option I guess: go into Rafah hard, and soon. Use the considerable arsenal and firepower that the IDF has, make some ground in a limited timeframe, then get out and soak up the wrath of Washington.

That option might deliver a short-term victory but would outrage the US administration and could put at risk options for future Israeli operations, for example in Lebanon.

There have been many pivotal moments during this seven-month war, and this is another.

The "UK wants the fighting in Gaza to end but calling for an immediate ceasefire makes it no more likely", Lord Cameron says.

"It is more practical to focus as we have in the UN and elsewhere on securing that immediate humanitarian pause -that is stopping the fighting right now," he says.

"This will see the hostages releases and more aid delivered.

"Then, we can turn this into the sustainable ceasefire without a return to fighting at all."

He also describes Britain's system and scale of arms exports to Israel as completely different from those in the US, saying the sales it licences were relatively small and policed by strict procedures.

"There's a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation," Cameron says.

"We do not have a UK government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licences, and I think our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1% of their total."

Lord Cameron is delivering a speech on UK security in London.

The foreign secretary says innocent citizens in Gaza are enduring a crisis "that will only worsen" if aid cannot reach them safely.

"This is a world more dangerous, more volatile and more confrontational than most of us have ever known and we need to face up to that fact and act accordingly," he says.

He points the situation in the Red Sea where "ship after ship have been attacked".

"While many countries have criticised the Houthi attacks, it is only the US and Britain that have been willing and able to step up and strike back," he says.

Lord Cameron says NATO countries should agree to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence and the country must "rise to the challenge that we face" and "make security a top priority".

Around 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinians.

The data comes as pressure increases on Israel to refrain from a fully fledged ground operation in Rafah.

Israel says it is conducting what it describes as a "precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah".

People have searching through the rubble after an Israeli strike on homes in Rafah.

Earlier this morning, Agence France-Presse reported heavy shelling in the southern region and Palestinian news agencyWafareported eight people had been killed after an aircraft bombed a house.

Israel says the southern Gaza city is the last Hamas stronghold in the enclave and has threatened a full-scale invasion despite warnings from allies.

More than one million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter in the region, many previously displaced from other parts of Gaza after Israel's orders to evacuate from there.

A vessel carrying aid to a pier built by the US off Gaza has set sail from Cyprus.

The US-flagged Sagamore left the port of Larnaca thismorning and officials say the vessel will be used to offload supplies on to a floating pier built to expedite aid into the besieged enclave.

For context: Cyprus opened a sea corridor in March to ship aid directly to Gaza, where deliveries via land have been severely disrupted by border closures and Israel's military operations.

The US-based charity World Food Kitchen used the route twice before seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on 1 April.

Donald Trump has accused Joe Biden of being "too weak to demand law and order" afterColumbia University cancelled its main graduation after weeks of protests on campus over the Israel-Hamas war.

The Ivy League school has said it is not going ahead with its ceremony this month due to "security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable".

Graduation had been scheduled for 15 May.

Responding to the latest announcement, the former US leader said on his social media platform Truth Social that "crooked Joe Biden is 100% responsible" for colleges cancelling graduations.

"Crooked Joe is taking the side of these terrorists," he added.

Joe Biden's "reputation is on the line" if Benjamin Netanyahu decides to ignore him, our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall says.

He says he suspects the Israelis knew about the US leader's decision not to supply Israel with weapons for its assault on Rafah before it was made public.

"I'm sure this would have been communicated to the Israelis behind the scenes," he says.

But by making it public, the US is "setting a very clear red line".

"Therefore, Mr Biden's reputation is on the line if Benjamin Netanyahu decides to ignore him and go into Rafah regardless," he says.

"At that point Biden will have a decision to make - does he soften and side with his ally or does he stand firm to the red line he has now set?"

Mr Netanyahu may be thinking the US has set clear red lines in the past that have been ignored by leaders.

"I'm thinking the use of chemical weapons in Syria and then with Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine," Bunkall says.

"When those respective leaders have decided to ignore the US, the US has done nothing about it so perhaps Mr Netanyahu may feel this is an empty threat."

Some reaction from the far-right of Israeli politics to the news that Joe Biden will halt offensive weapons sales to Israel should Benjamin Netanyahu go ahead with a full invasion of Rafah.

The outspoken national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, shared this post on X...

Israel has begun what it described as "targeted" operations in eastern parts of the city.

Aid organisations and the UN have warned of the humanitarian catastrophe that will accompany any further action in Rafah.