US President Joe Biden told CNN that the United States will not send weapons to Israel if they will be used in a major military operation in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

The president's comments were the first to address the supply of US weapons to Israel after the administration's decision last week to suspend a bomb shipment, as he warned that Israel should not conduct an invasion of Rafah in the absence of reliable protection for civilian lives.

Noting that 2,000-pound bombs had been suspended from being delivered to Israel, Biden said, "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs and other ways they target population centers." American media reported that the delivery of 500-pound bombs had also been suspended.

Biden added, "We will continue to ensure that Israel is secure with regard to Iron Dome and its ability to respond to the attacks that have recently launched from the Middle East." He added, "But this is wrong. We will not do that. We will not supply it with weapons and artillery shells."

The Israeli army has now taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which connects Egypt to the Gaza Strip. In this regard, Biden indicated that Israel's actions have not yet crossed the red line of entering the densely populated areas of Rafah.

"They didn't go to the population centers," Biden said. "What they did was right on the border, and it's causing problems right now, as far as Egypt is concerned, which has worked hard to make sure we have a relationship and assistance."

He added, "I made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the (Israeli) war government that they will not get our support if they attack these population centers."

American media interpreted Biden's statements as drawing a red line for the Israeli government.

What is also important is that the president acknowledged that the bombs his country sent to Israel were used to kill civilians in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, indicating that the United States played a role in the massacre.

Earlier in the day, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senators on Capitol Hill, while testifying on the Pentagon's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, that the Pentagon "will continue to do what is necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself. But we are currently reviewing some Security aid shipments in the near term in the context of the current events in Rafah.”

"We haven't made any decisions," Austin added. He stated, "We have paused as we re-evaluated some of the security assistance we provide."