Calgary Netanyahu On U.S. Threat To Withhold Arms: Israel Will Fight With Its 'Fingernails' If Needed | HuffPost Latest News - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

JERUSALEM (AP) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza, indicating it might proceed with an invasion of the packed city of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally.

President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to go ahead with such an operation over fears it would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. On Wednesday, he said the United States would not provide offensive weapons for a Rafah offensive, raising pressure on Netanyahu.

But in a statement released Thursday, Netanyahu said if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.

Israels top military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, also appeared to downplay the practical impact of any arms holdup. The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah, too we have what we need, he said in response to a question at a news conference.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah , where some 1.3 million Palestinians over half the population have sought refuge. The city in southern Gaza is also the main hub for humanitarian operations, which have been severely hindered by the closure of Gazas two main crossings this week.

Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas and that the army must go in if it hopes to dismantle the group and return scores of hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

In an earlier response to Bidens decision, Israels far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote a post on the platform X with a heart emoji between the words Hamas and Biden. He and other ultra-nationalist members of Netanyahus coalition support a large-scale Rafah operation and have threatened to bring down his government if it doesnt happen.

Hamas Biden

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Hamas Biden
(@itamarbengvir) May 9, 2024

Aid groups say a Rafah invasion would be catastrophic. The U.N. says most of the territorys 2.3 million Palestinians suffer from hunger and that northern Gaza is already experiencing full-blown famine.

Even the limited operation Israel launched earlier this week, in which a tank brigade captured the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, has thrown humanitarian operations into crisis.

It also complicated what had been months of efforts by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt to broker a cease-fire and the release of hostages. Hamas this week said it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal , but Israel says the plan does not meet its core demands. Several days of follow-up talks appeared to end inconclusively on Thursday.

Some analysts said Bidens tough line against Israel, and the rift between the allies, threatened to weaken Israels negotiating position and harden Hamas stances. Hamas has demanded guarantees for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal steps Israel has ruled out.