Editorial
Biden’s curb on bomb delivery could be a catalyst to end Rafah standoff
US President Joe Biden’s announcement to stop supplying weapons to Israel should it launch an all-out assault on the city of Rafah delivers a heightened state of brinksmanship to a region already teetering on the edge.
Amid concern for the wellbeing of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering in Rafah, Biden told CNN the US was still committed to Israel’s defence and would supply defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used”.
He said Israel’s actions around Rafah had “not yet” crossed his red lines, but repeated that Israel needs to do far more to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also added to the pressure on Israel as he affirmed Australia’s commitment to a two-state solution ahead of a United Nations General Assembly vote to include Palestine as a fully-fledged member.
Albanese, speaking in Melbourne, said: “What we have done again is to communicate to Israel our opposition for a ground invasion in Rafah because we’re concerned about the civilian population there.”
The government’s longstanding position is to recognise a Palestinian state, but no timeline has been attached. Moving ahead with recognition would benefit the path to peace, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has previously said.
The UN General Assembly could vote Friday on a draft resolution to recognise the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member. It would need to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
Meanwhile, the stance by Biden brings the desperate plight of civilians in Rafah into sharp focus. One security observer in Israel said the president’s move was not an embargo on American munitions but a more diplomatic message that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to consider American interests more than he has recently.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said the decision was “very disappointing ... even frustrating”. He suggested the move stemmed from political pressure on Biden from Congress, the US university campus protests and the upcoming election.
From wherever the pressure on Biden emanates, it is clear the strength of the relationship between his administration and Netanyahu is about to be tested to the utmost.
Displaced Palestinians inspect their destroyed homes after fleeing from Rafah, in Gaza this week.Credit: Bloomberg
The US-Israel relationship has been close in the past through both Democratic and Republican administrations but not without its moments of tension. President Ronald Reagan imposed a six-year ban on cluster weapons sales to Israel and their use was reviewed under president George W. Bush, over concerns they were used during a 2006 war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Evidence, then, that Israel can if needed be influenced.
Israel launched the invasion of the Gaza Strip following a savage attack by Hamas that killed an estimated 1200 people and resulted in more than 250 people taken hostage. In response, the Israeli military has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and injured at least 77,000 others, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israeli troops earlier this week seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing in a move the White House described as a limited operation that stopped short of a full-on Israeli invasion of the city.
Any line in the sand cannot come too soon if it helps to restore the severed lines of humanitarian aid to the 1 million or so inside Rafah. Civilian Iyad al-Masry joined the exodus with his family, including a baby, leaving Rafah for the supposed safe town and tent camp at nearby Muwasi. He told news agency AP he had been searching for water but couldn’t afford the three shekels – about $1.20 – that sellers charge for a gallon of drinking water. “We want to eat … We are just waiting for God’s mercy,” he said.
While politicians position and negotiate, urgent assistance must be afforded to this shameful scene of ongoing famine and disease.
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