Strikes back against Biden’s Rafah border – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

Philip Calvin McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, has flown to Israel and interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the interview, which was broadcast on the American TV program “Dr. Phil Primetime” night to Friday, the two talk about the long-announced invasion of Rafah and about the relationship with the United States.

– I hope that we can overcome our differences now. But we will do what we must to protect our country and our future, Netanyahu said.

– How do they distinguish between Hamas and civilians?

The US, which is Israel’s largest arms supplier, has gone from giving full support to Israel to expressing concern for civilians and threatening to withhold arms deliveries. At home, support for the Palestinians is growing.

The Biden administration has said it cannot support a large-scale invasion of Rafah, south of Gaza, without a credible plan to protect civilians.

– How do they distinguish between Hamas and civilian Palestinians in the Gaza Strip? asked Dr. Phil Netanyahu, pointing out that several claim that part of Hamas’s tactics is to stay close to civilians.

Netanyahu did not answer the question directly, but said that the tactic makes the job much more difficult for the Israeli defense.

NRK’s ​​Middle East correspondent Yama Wolasmal asked the same question when he interviewed David Mencer, spokesperson for the Israeli government.

– We have followed the gold standard when we have targeted the war against terrorists, and got civilians away from dangerous areas, replied Mencer.

– The EU says that they are using hunger as a weapon against 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip. It doesn’t sound like a gold standard, said Wolasmal.

Can hold more weapons

Netanyahu’s government was silent for a long time about Washington withholding a delivery of aerial bombs to Israel last week. But this week, Biden went public and said that this was part of a warning against entering Rafah.

– Civilians have been killed in Gaza because of the bombs. It’s just wrong, he said in an interview with CNN.

He threatened to stop several of the US arms deliveries to Israel if the military enters Rafah with ground forces.

– You cannot support Israel’s right to self-defence, and then oppose it when Israel defends itself, was Netanyahu’s comment on this in the interview with Dr. Phil.

– Will fight with only the nevane

The tone between Israel and the US has cooled, and on Thursday several ministers from the Israeli government were out with their reactions to the threats from Biden.

Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was among those who took to X to comment on the speech.

Netanyahu told Dr. Phil that Israel is bid to stand alone in the war. He showed no concern about what a possible halt in arms deliveries could mean for the outcome of the war.

– I have said that we will fight with only the nevan if we have to. But I assure you that we have more than just our neves, he said.

Since the night of Monday, Israel has bombed parts of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians seek refuge after other cities in Gaza have been bombed to the south and together. 600,000 of those who stay in the city are children, according to Unicef.

Several heads of state and humanitarian organizations around the world have warned that an invasion of the southern city will be a bloodbath for civilians.