Pressure on Netanyahu intensifies as Biden warns of withholding arms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces competing pressures at home and abroad as domestic protesters asked him to bring Israeli hostages home, while U.S. President Joe Biden publicly warned it will stop supplying weapons if Israeli forces stage a major invasion of Rafah.

Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gazan city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on the area. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded civilians.

"I made it clear that 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," Biden told a CNN reporter on Wednesday.

This represents Biden's strongest public language to date in his effort to deter an Israeli assault on Rafah while underscoring a growing rift between the U.S. and its strongest ally in the Middle East. Biden acknowledged U.S. weapons have been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza, where Israel has mounted a seven-month-long offensive aimed at annihilating Hamas.

According to UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths, over 1 million people who make up Rafah's population are enduring "unthinkable suffering," including 600,000 children. Israel's campaign has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel's recent military move in Rafah, which came after Hamas agreed to release some Israeli hostages in Gaza, further complicated the ongoing negotiations in Cairo, with Hamas saying on Wednesday that it will not make more concessions to Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Israel isn't serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing," Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which on Monday declared that the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down.

Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting in Cairo since Tuesday. Just a few hours before Hamas' latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart.

"We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough. They should do what they can to get to a deal," U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

The U.S. aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, and a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington has paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan called Washington's decision "very disappointing," although he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel.

The UN, Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursions into Rafah will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Palestinians have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel's Monday attack, emphasizing that a full-scale assault on Rafah will be a "human catastrophe." He called on Israel to stop any escalation and engage constructively in the ongoing diplomatic talks.

Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, according to the UN Population Fund on Wednesday.

"The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble," Rafah Mayor Ahmed al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene.

(With input from agencies)