The United States has not ruled out withholding more military support to Israel’s campaign against Hamas if Israel undertakes a major attack on Rafah, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Sunday.
“If Israel launches this major military operation into Rafah, then there are certain systems that we are not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation,” Mr. Blinken told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He did not elaborate.
Last week, the White House imposed a delay on the delivery of 3,500 bombs out of concern over the potential harm to civilians in Rafah, where many Gazans have sought shelter since the start of the fighting seven months ago. Mr. Blinken said those are the only weapons that the United States has held back “at present.”
Two days after the State Department sent a report to Congress raising “substantial questions” regarding Israel’s efforts to protect civilians in Gaza, Mr. Blinken was circumspect in his criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7.
The report raised the prospect that Israel may have violated international laws, but avoided conclusions about any specific episodes. Mr. Blinken reiterated that point on Sunday, and told “Face the Nation” that Israel has institutions in place to investigate, evaluate and “self-correct.”
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Blinken echoed the findings of the report, and underscored Hamas’s responsibility for starting the conflict and the battlefield challenges its tactics pose to protecting civilians.
“Based on the totality of the harm that’s been done, to children, to women, to men who are caught in this crossfire Hamas is making, it’s reasonable to conclude that there are instances where Israel has acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” he said.
He added that Israeli forces were operating in a “complex military environment,” with “an enemy that intentionally embeds itself with civilians hiding under and within schools, mosques, apartment buildings.”
