Netanyahu On U.S. Threat To Withhold Arms: Israel Will Fight With Its 'Fingernails' If Needed

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.

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.

It sends a discordant message at a time when Hamas is holding out on a hostage deal in the hopes that pressure will grow on Israel and it will gain a cease-fire without having to give anything in return, said the Israel Policy Forum, a pro-Israel organization based in New York.

The war began with Hamas surprise attack into southern Israel , in which it killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. The militants are still holding some 100 captives and the remains of more than 30 after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

The war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israels offensive, waged with U.S.-supplied munitions, has caused widespread devastation and forced some 80% of Gazas population to flee their homes.

Israels capture of the Rafah crossing  Tuesday forced the closure of a key entry point for fuel, and its unclear when it will reopen. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it only has enough stocks to maintain operations for a few days and has started rationing.

Israel reopened its side of the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing   Gazas main cargo terminal after a rocket attack over the weekend, but UNRWA, the main provider of aid in Gaza, says aid cannot be brought in on the Palestinian side because of the security situation.

A recently reopened route in the north is still functioning, but only 60 trucks entered on Tuesday, far below the 500 that entered Gaza each day before the war.

The first aid ship bound for an American-built floating pier  to be installed in Gaza departed early Thursday. But its unclear when that corridor will be up and running, and even then it wont be able to handle as much aid as Gazas two main land crossings.

Maj. Pete Nguyen, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that parts of the pier are still in the Israeli port of Ashdod awaiting more favorable seas before being moved into position off Gaza. He said the U.S. vessel Sagamore, which left Cyprus, would transport aid to another ship, the Roy P. Benavidez, which is off the coast of Gaza.

In the coming days, the U.S. will commence an international community-backed effort to expand the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza using a floating pier, he said.

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Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Jerusalem, Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.