Israel-Gaza latest: US will not supply Israel with bombs to invade Rafah, Joe Biden warns

Joe Biden's "reputation is on the line" if Benjamin Netanyahu decides to ignore him, our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall says.

He says he suspects the Israelis knew about the US leader's decision not to supply Israel with weapons for its assault on Rafah before it was made public.

"I'm sure this would have been communicated to the Israelis behind the scenes," he says.

But by making it public, the US is "setting a very clear red line".

"Therefore, Mr Biden's reputation is on the line if Benjamin Netanyahu decides to ignore him and go into Rafah regardless," he says.

"At that point Biden will have a decision to make - does he soften and side with his ally or does he stand firm to the red line he has now set?"

Mr Netanyahu may be thinking the US has set clear red lines in the past that have been ignored by leaders.

"I'm thinking the use of chemical weapons in Syria and then with Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine," Bunkall says.

"When those respective leaders have decided to ignore the US, the US has done nothing about it so perhaps Mr Netanyahu may feel this is an empty threat."

Some reaction from the far-right of Israeli politics to the news that Joe Biden will halt offensive weapons sales to Israel should Benjamin Netanyahu go ahead with a full invasion of Rafah.

The outspoken national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, shared this post on X...

Israel has begun what it described as "targeted" operations in eastern parts of the city.

Aid organisations and the UN have warned of the humanitarian catastrophe that will accompany any further action in Rafah. 

The Hamas-run health ministry says at least 34,904 Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.

A further 78,514 have been injured, it added. 

It should be noted the figures reported by the ministry do not differentiate between fighters and civilians.

Reporters from Agence France-Presse are reporting heavy shelling in Rafah this morning.

And the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that eight people have been killed, including three children, in the southern Gaza city today after an aircraft bombed a house.

It has also said that "dozens of Palestinians", the majority of whom were children and women, were killed in a series of attacks launched by Israel in Gaza.

Medical sources say they were "killed as a result of the occupation warplanes bombing homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood", east of Gaza City.

America will not supply Israel with weapons for its assault on Rafah, the US president told CNN last night.

Joe Biden said he would continue to send defensive weaponry - such as ammunition for the Iron Dome systems - but weapons required for an assault of a large city would no longer be sent. 

Watch a clip from that interview below...

The Israel Defence Forces has launched a new operation in central Gaza, it has announced.

The 99th division of the IDF "began an operation in the area of Zeitoun in the central Gaza Strip in order to continue the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and elimination of terrorist operatives in the area", a statement read. 

"The operation began with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 terror targets, including military structures, terror tunnels, observation posts, sniper posts, and additional terror infrastructure."

It also said that "IDF ground troops are currently operating to secure the area of Zeitoun".

It's unclear how large an operation has been launched at this stage.

Zeitoun is southwest of Jabalia, near the al Shifa hospital. 

The Houthi group claims it has attacked three ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

The group's military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said the Houthis attacked the MSC DEGO and the MSC GINA in the Gulf of Aden using ballistic missiles and drones.

Sarea said the group also targeted the MSC VITTORIA in the Indian Ocean and then again in the Gulf of Aden. 

It did not offer a timeline on when it attacked the ships, but MSC DEGO and the MSC GINA reported explosions on Tuesday, with the crews and vessels of each recorded as safe. 

An attack on the MSC VITTORIA has not been reported by any maritime authority. 

Joe Biden has set out his red line with Israel, publicly warning for the first time that the US would stop supplying weapons if Israeli forces conduct a full-scale offensive in Rafah. 

"I made it clear that 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 told CNN. 

It marked his strongest language to date on the issue, although the US has made clear it does not back Israel conducting an offensive in the southern Gaza city. 

He acknowledged US weapons have been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza already. 

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres," he said when asked about 2,000-pound bombs sent to Israel.

It was also reported yesterday morning that the US had paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week. 

The latest comments from the US president mark a growing rift between America and Israel, which have historically been strong allies. 

Mr Biden said the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defence system. 

"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."

Syrian air defences have shot down Israeli missiles fired from the Golan Heights towards the outskirts of Damascus, the country's defence ministry has said. 

The airstrikes were targeting a building in the countryside. 

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but these have ramped up following the Hamas attacks on 7 October. 

Tensions escalated further when an Israeli strike in April targeted the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, killing a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps as well as other military officers.

This triggered Iran's first direct attack on Israeli territory, although the majority of its missiles were shot down. 

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and wider tensions in the Middle East. 

Israel's military has begun operations, though not yet the threatened full-scale invasion, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite calls from allies not to move into the area due to the large civilian population sheltering there. 

Earlier in the week, an Israeli tank brigade took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. 

Yesterday, the IDF said it was conducting what it described as a "precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah". 

It also said it was "conducting targeted raids on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing". 

Before we bring you today's news, here is a reminder of our updates from the past 24 hours: 

• The US paused a bomb shipment to Israel over fears of a full-scale assault on Rafah; 
• Israel said it had reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which will allow aid through into Gaza; 
• A Hamas naval commander was killed in Gaza City, the IDF said;
• Residents in Rafah urged the international community to stop an offensive in the city; 
• Rafah's main maternity hospital halted admissions.