Biden caved on ‘red line’ warning in Rafah, Democrats say

Liberal Democrats are going after President Biden for his handling of Israel’s incursion into Rafah, accusing the president of giving in to his “red line” warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to invade the city for fear of huge civilian casualties.

Democrats say Netanyahu has clearly crossed that line, just like Israeli tanks reportedly arrived in the center of Rafah and Israeli missile attacks killed dozens of Palestinian civilians seeking refuge in what Israel describes as Hamas’ last stronghold. They want the president to fulfill his promise to suspend the delivery of certain weapons systems to Israel as a result of these military operations – a step the administration has so far refused to take.

“This absolutely crossed the red line, maybe even before that,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told The Hill in an interview. “I am frustrated by the reluctance to hold Netanyahu accountable for what I believe is only worsening security and peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And I see this as dragging the United States into Netanyahu’s war.”

Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, questioned what Biden’s true red line is, after Israeli forces carried out operations that led to the conditions the president feared.

“He was worried about the movement of people; This has already happened, a million people have already been displaced. He was worried about tanks entering the city; this has already happened. He was concerned about attacks in dense areas; this had already happened,” Jayapal said.

“So I don’t really know what the red line is anymore, because it seems pretty clear that this has certainly crossed the red line, and anything beyond that would be complete devastation for people, and at that point it’s too late. And so, I already feel like it’s a little late.”

Other liberals are piling on.

“The IDF attack on a camp of innocents in Rafah is an indefensible atrocity,” wrote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) on social platform X. “This was done in open defiance of @POTUS’s red line and O [International Court of Justice’s] call for a ceasefire. It is past time for the President to keep his word and suspend military aid.”

Biden announced earlier this month that he would suspend the delivery of some weapons to Israel if Netanyahu sent troops to Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza where Hamas militants remain in control and where many people displaced from other parts of Gaza have sought refuge. in .

“I have made it clear that if they go to Rafah – they have not yet gone to Rafah – if they go to Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with this problem,” Biden told CNN on May 9th.

However, the Israeli military continued its offensive in Rafah over the weekend, attacking a displacement camp in the southern Gaza city – which set the area on fire – killing around 45 Palestinians and injuring 200 others.

Faced with growing outrage over the deadly attack on civilians, administration officials have expressed concerns but also stressed that they do not consider Israel’s operations in Rafah to meet the criteria of a “major ground operation” that would violate Biden’s red line.

“A major ground operation consists of, you know, thousands and thousands of troops moving in a maneuvered, concentrated, coordinated manner against a variety of targets on the ground,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. to reporters this week.

“We haven’t seen that yet,” he added when pressed on the issue.

Progressive Democrats, however, are insisting on this analysis, arguing in no uncertain terms that the weekend attack in Rafah crosses the administration’s self-imposed red line and calling for consequences in response to Israel’s latest act.

“The Rafah scenes were completely horrific and a clear crossing of the red line,” Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (DN.Y.) wrote on X. “The US should not be providing weapons to fuel these atrocities and our government must use every tool possible to end this killing and achieve an immediate ceasefire.”

“How many children will have to die? We have already crossed the red line,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) wrote on X. “It is time to stop sending military aid to Israel. Not another penny.”

The concerns are not limited to the Chamber.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) noted this week that Biden’s red line warning was designed to prevent an Israeli raid on Rafah because such an incursion would not only lead to an increase in civilian casualties but would also make more difficult to deliver humanitarian aid and free the remaining hostages taken by Hamas on October 7th. Israel’s recent military operations in Rafah, Van Hollen said, raise new questions about the wisdom of providing more U.S. weapons for combat.

“All the things that President Biden was worried about happened,” Van Hollen said in an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “The United States needs to obtain a full and clear commitment from the Netanyahu government about its plans for the future before we continue to provide further offensive military assistance to the Netanyahu government.”

The weekend strike in Rafah emerged as the latest flashpoint in long-running tensions in the House Democratic Caucus on Israel, where staunchly pro-Israel Democrats are at odds with pro-Palestinian liberals up in arms over to the increase in deaths in the Gaza Strip.

The issue has created a huge headache for Biden and other Democratic leaders as they try to tread a delicate line in defending a wartime Democratic ally without alienating the party’s liberal base.

While liberals have called on the US to suspend arms supplies to Israel – claiming that Tel Aviv has crossed a red line – pro-Israel Democrats have argued that Hamas’ reluctance to release hostages is the reason why Israeli forces continue to press Rafah.

“Make no mistake: The reason there is an Operation Rafah is because Hamas has not agreed to a temporary ceasefire to free the hostages,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) on “Fox News Sunday.”

But liberals rejected that argument, saying the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a point where the US should no longer support sending weapons to Israel.

“We have to recognize that if we continue on this path of supporting Netanyahu without conditions, and despite the fact that he is doing things that we have said we will not tolerate, we will not only lose credibility with the international community, but we will also continue to lose credibility here at home. about the values ​​we truly stand for,” Jayapal said. “And I think both of those things are very important right now.”