White House says Israel still getting 'vast majority' of weapons 'they need'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House said Thursday that Israel is still receiving the "vast majority" of the weapons "they need" after pausing an arms shipment that included 2,000-pound bombs.

"Everybody keeps talking about pausing weapons shipments. Weapons shipments are still going to Israel. And they're still getting the vast, vast majority of everything that they need to defend themselves," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

"We've also committed to, and will continue to commit to, spending every dime of the supplemental requests that we got from Congress to get them the capabilities they need," he added.

US President Joe Biden paused last week the delivery of a weapons shipment that included 2,000-pound bombs, which Israel previously used to flatten wide swathes of Gaza. Biden’s decision to halt the shipment was made due to his concerns over Israel's vowed invasion of Rafah, Kirby said.

Biden on Wednesday issued a stark warning to Israel not to proceed with plans for an invasion of Rafah, threatening to withhold weapons that would be instrumental to any such attack.

"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet -- 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," Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN.

The warning, and the earlier pause on the arms delivery, has prompted fierce criticism from the Israeli government with officials there vowing to continue their attack on Gaza.

“I say to the leaders of the world — no amount of pressure, no decision from any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message on X.

“As prime minister of Israel, the only Jewish state, I pledge that if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” he added.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also vowed that Israel will “achieve its goals” and “can’t be subdued.”

“I say from here to Israel’s enemies and its best friends: The State of Israel cannot be subdued — not the IDF (army), not the Defense Ministry, not the defense establishment, not the State of Israel. We will stand, we will achieve our goals,” he said at a military ceremony.

“Whatever the cost, we will ensure the existence of the State of Israel,” he said. “We will hit Hamas, we will destroy Hezbollah, and we will bring security.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October, which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children. Over 78,500 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. Thousands remain missing.

Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN. Most of the displaced have sought refuge in Rafah following earlier Israeli evacuation orders.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in the coastal enclave, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians.​​​​​​​