President Biden’s announcement last night that he would halt some shipments of weapons to Israel was contingent upon whether Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government launched a “major” military operation against Rafah, with its 1.4 million Palestinian refugees. He had told CNN’s Erin Burnett: “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah—they haven’t gone in Rafah yet—if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities—that deal with that problem…. Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers.... We’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
While this is a step that Biden could have taken some 40,000 lives ago, it remains to be seen how far his qualification—that the first 48 hours of military action against Rafah are within appropriate limits—will allow for significant and immediate war crimes. The airstrikes on the eastern outskirts of Rafah on May 6, Monday night, killed at least 24-36 civilians, including children. Israel’s closing down shipments of food, fuel, and medicine through the critical Rafah Crossing translates for a highly-at-risk 2.2 million Gazans into more starvation, disease, and deaths every day it is allowed to continue.
This morning, after Biden’s announcement, Israeli forces massed tanks and opened fire close to built-up areas of Rafah. Residents and medics in Rafah reported that Israeli tank fire killed three people and wounded others near a mosque in Rafah’s eastern neighborhood called “Brazil.” A helicopter opened fire and drones hovered above various houses. In Deir Al-Balah, north of Rafah, to which thousands had fled, a drone fired a missile at people, killing a man and a woman, injuring others. Otherwise, Israel increased attacks and arrests in the West Bank and on the Israeli border with Lebanon.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that the closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt had prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals. The only kidney dialysis center in the Rafah area had stopped operating, due to the shelling.
