US President Joe Biden's announcement last night that he would stop arms shipments to Israel if it invaded Rafah did not surprise Israel. A report published by the Ynet website today, Thursday, described the deliberations between the two sides regarding weapons supplies as a “dialogue of the deaf,” as Israel was unable to convince the Biden administration that its military plans would prevent the targeting of civilians in Rafah.

The Biden administration rejected all the Israeli plans that were presented to it and claimed that they prevent the targeting of civilians in Rafah, stressing that they are not implementable, according to the report, and after opposition to the continuation of the war began to include leaders and public opinion in Europe, Arab countries, and the United Nations, which warns of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza strip.

The report indicated that statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would invade Rafah despite global opposition contributed greatly to the fact that “this opposition has turned into the central issue of disagreement between Israel and the Western democracies, led by the United States.”

The report considered that “the talk is not currently about a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, but rather about an announcement about stopping the increase of aerial munitions in the form of precision bombs weighing one and a quarter tons,” but “if Israel ignores this threat and expands the military operation (in Rafah), this will lead to... “Apparently there is a ban not only on certain types of bombs, but also on aerial ammunition in general, which Israel needs and the United States is its only source.”

According to the report, “Israel is able to deal with the actual military consequences of the US ban on offensive weapons, because the Israeli army’s stores are full as a result of the continuous supplies in recent months.” However, the report pointed out that the Israeli army was “wasteful” in using precision ammunition.

The report indicated that the United States imposed a ban on arms sales to Israel during the Nakba in 1948, and another ban imposed by the administration of President Jimmy Carter at the end of the 1970s due to the settlement policy, and the administration of President Ronald Reagan imposed it during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s.

The report added that at the time, public opinion and American lawmakers from both parties opposed imposing the embargo on Israel, while the situation is different now. “Now, the arms embargo on Israel, even if it is partial and refers to preventing the invasion of Rafah, constitutes a message to the world, especially to Britain and other European countries, by preventing the provision of weapons and spare parts to Israel. This creates a danger in the long term, especially since the major conflict with Iran is not "It is still ahead of us and may happen within a shorter period than the Israeli security apparatus estimates."

According to the report, Biden's decision to stop arms shipments comes "against the backdrop of tremendous pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and against the backdrop of the decision are student demonstrations at American universities against Israel, and this is happening during a presidential election year."