Biden admits that US bombs sent to Israel killed civilians in Gaza

US President Joe Biden admitted on Wednesday night that the bombs that the US sent to Israel but has now stopped supplying were used to kill Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Biden made his comment in an interview with CNN.

The president said that he would suspend arms shipments to Israel if its forces go into Rafah. “They haven’t gone into Rafah yet [but] 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.”

He pointed out that civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which the Israelis go after population centres, a reference to the 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week. He added that the delivery of further shipments of weapons would stop if Israel invaded Rafah.

“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he said. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”

Biden believes that Israel’s actions in Rafah had not yet crossed a red line of entering heavily populated zones.

The American President added that he is working with Arab countries that are prepared to reconstruct Gaza and help in the transition to a two-state solution following the war.

READ: Palestinians scramble for safety ahead of expected Rafah operation