Israel declared 'willing to stand alone', Mr. Trump accused Mr. Biden of siding with Hamas

Tel Aviv [Israel], May 10: Israel showed toughness after the US announced it would stop supplying some weapons if the Israeli army continued its plan to attack the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
On May 10, AFP quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as declaring that the country was ready to "stand alone" in the campaign in Gaza, after the US said it would stop providing some weapons if Israel continued with its attack plan. attack the city of Rafah .
"If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone," the leader said in a statement.
The Israeli prime minister reiterated comments he has made several times over the past week in the face of growing international criticism of his conduct of the war against Hamas .
The above statement was made after US President Joe Biden warned that he would stop providing some weapons if Israel continued with its large-scale attack plan in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where the United Nations said There are 1.4 million Palestinians in shelter.
Netanyahu did not mention the US threat, but emphasized in comments made on the eve of Israel's Independence Day, which marks the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, that back then "we fight less against more".
"Today we are much stronger. We are determined and united to defeat our enemies and those who want to destroy us," Mr. Netanyahu emphasized.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari emphasized on the evening of May 9 that the country's army has "enough weapons to complete the mission in Rafah". "America has helped us in an unprecedented way since the start of the war. We have our own interests and we are very sensitive to America's interests," he said.
Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Biden
In a related development, former US President Donald Trump on May 9 criticized President Joe Biden for siding with Hamas when threatening to stop supplying weapons to Israel.
Writing on his social network Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Biden was on the side of "these terrorists", and compared Mr. Biden to being on the side of "radical mobs occupying universities". referring to protests at American universities.
Speaking later to reporters, Mr. Trump said that "what Mr. Biden is doing to Israel is disgraceful." "He completely abandoned Israel and no one can believe it," according to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Mitch McConnell, Republican leader in the US Senate, also said that Mr. Biden "cannot affirm his steadfast support for Israel while denying exactly the weapons that Israel needs to defend itself."
The White House later emphasized that Mr. Biden still has strong support for Israel.
"The argument that somehow we're moving away from this role, that we're not willing to help them defeat Hamas, just doesn't fit the reality," according to US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
"This is a president who visited Israel in the days after the attack on October 7, 2023," he said, adding that Mr. Biden also "took American fighter pilots into the sky" to shoot down the arrow. fires and drones fired by Iran into Israel.
More than 150,000 people left Rafah
The Israeli army said on May 9 that it had killed 50 gunmen in its continuing campaign east of Rafah, while about 150,000 Palestinians had evacuated the area.
An additional 10 tunnels were found during the operation launched on the evening of May 6 and Israeli forces are preparing to destroy these tunnels, according to The Times of Israel, citing information from the Israel Defense Forces.
In an incident that occurred on May 9, three soldiers were moderately injured by an explosion in a mine bunker in the Rafah area and were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The IDF said there are currently no plans to expand the evacuation order to other areas of Rafah , as the ongoing operation remains relatively limited in scope as hostage negotiations with Hamas continue.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper