President Joe Biden says he will not supply offensive weapons that Israel can use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview Wednesday with CNN, says the U.S. is still committed to Israel’s defense and will supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms. But he says that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.” The interview marked Biden’s toughest public comments yet about the potential Israeli military operation and followed his decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel last week.

Biden says US won't supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah, in warning to ally

The U.N. World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, and shortages have already forced one of three hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel’s military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday, blocking the entry of vital humanitarian aid. Israel said it reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, the other main aid entry point, on Wednesday. However, the U.N. World Food Program says no aid has entered, and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side. The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”