Biden and Netanyahu face off over Rafah underground tunnel, Hamas joins

Amid the confrontation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu over the Rafah underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip, Hamas joined in by ‘withdrawing from ceasefire negotiations’.
The key to the Netanyahu regime's attempt to destroy the southern Rafah region, where Hamas' major weapons stockpile is concentrated, is the underground tunnel supply route coming from Egypt, and on the 8th, the Biden regime 'stopped supporting heavy bombs for attacks' against hardliners who are focused on destroying this. Notice was given.
President Biden said in a CNN interview that day, "If they go into Rafa, I will not supply the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafa, to deal with cities, to deal with that problem."
The interview follows Defense Secretary Austin's announcement last week that he would withhold the delivery of thousands of heavy bombs, saying President Biden's decision would be a direct response to Israel's decision to block Rafah, one of Hamas' last bastions in the Gaza Strip, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge. It aired hours after he publicly admitted he was involved in planning a large-scale attack.
The suspended weapon is a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the most destructive bombs used by Israel, and during the first six weeks of the war, Israel routinely used the weapon in the Gaza Strip, which was designated safe for civilians, the New York Times found in its own investigation. The day was revealed.
The New York Times reported that the announcement to withhold arms aid was made by CIA Director William Burns, who met privately with Netanyahu last week, and that the Israeli government downplayed the notice to suspend arms deliveries.

National Security Minister Itamar Bengbir, a member of the far-right party, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that day, “Hamas loves Biden.” 
The suspension of U.S. arms supplies to Israel occurred when the Reagan administration imposed an embargo on cluster bombs during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and the Obama administration imposed an embargo on air-to-ground missiles during the invasion of Gaza in 2014.
Israel's public broadcaster Kang reported on the 6th, citing a senior government official, that "Israel will have no choice but to change its operational plan."
Nadav Eyal, a reporter for Israel's leading newspaper 'Ideoto Aharonot', said, "President Biden has officially announced that the war is over," and that this is because Israel relies on the United States for weapons and ammunition, Yomiuri reported on the 8th. did.
The Ideoto Aharonot newspaper stated that Israel only manufactures shells for tanks and artillery, and does not manufacture ammunition for bombers or other equipment.
Israel's ammunition stockpile is expected to limit airstrikes targeting buildings and underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip if the United States continues to cut off supplies.
“The current partial U.S. embargo will limit large-scale operations in Rafah,” military analyst Ron Ben-Ishai told Yomiuri. “If Operation Rafah is implemented, it could lead to a full arms embargo.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is adhering to the Rafah attack, is desperate to hold an election as soon as a ceasefire is reached to maintain the ruling coalition with 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament), and to assemble a coalition by ‘continuing the war’ to avoid the election.
Itamar Ben-Gbir and Bezalel Smotrich, the extreme right wing of the coalition government with 14 seats, declared that they would “withdraw from the coalition” if Netanyahu agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has four battalions fighting in and around Rafah and is protecting the outskirts of the Gaza Strip along the Egyptian border, but the actual battle is a supply route built through an underground tunnel in Egypt, the NYT pointed out.
“If we end the war without blocking the tunnel, Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Strip will be able to rebuild their military capabilities,” Koby Michael, a researcher at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies, told the New York Times.
“The reason Rafah is important is not because four Hamas battalions are still there,” said Nizhan Nouriel (reserve major general), former director of the Israeli National Security Council’s counter-terrorism department. “The reason Rafah is important is because Hamas is important to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.” “This is because the message is being sent that the Gaza Strip cannot be controlled forever,” he told the NYT.
NYT said, “Israeli military officials and analysts emphasize that blocking the smuggling of weapons and equipment from Egypt through the Rafah underground tunnels is more strategically important to Israel than the remaining Hamas fighters in Rafah.” Despite denying widespread smuggling, Israeli officials believe that much of the vast arsenal of weapons and building materials that Hamas has amassed in Gaza came via tunnels from Egypt.”
“Even the modest operation in Rafah serves several of Netanyahu’s goals simultaneously,” said Nathan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. "It's not just about going after their forces, it's about cutting off their ability to resupply through smuggling through the Egyptian border," he told the NYT.
Regarding Netanyahu's strategy for the Rafah military operation, Sachs said, "Hamas is putting pressure on Hamas to relax some of its broader demands in the ceasefire negotiations."
If a ceasefire is achieved in Rafah, President Biden's Democratic Party will have an advantage in the presidential election due to the diplomatic victory, and on the contrary, Netanyahu is supporting the Republican Party's victory in the Trump administration's presidential election by continuing the war, prolonging the conflict between the two.
“I am sure Netanyahu will go to Rafah, no matter what the international community says,” Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, told the NYT from Cairo after the school was destroyed.
In the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas proposed ending the war, releasing Israeli hostages, and establishing an independent state system through complete division of the Gaza Strip and Israel in exchange for the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of many Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas said late on the 8th that it would make no further concessions to Israel during ceasefire talks.
For the meeting held in Cai, representatives from Hamas, Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been meeting since the 7th.
“Hamas will not go beyond the ceasefire offer it accepted on the 6th,” Izzat el-Resik, head of Hamas’ political office in Qatar, said in a statement on the 8th. “Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement and will invade Rafah.” “They are using negotiations as a cover to occupy the border,” he said.
Israel declared on the 6th, “The three-stage ceasefire plan approved by Hamas cannot be accepted because the conditions have been weakened.”
White House National Security Advisor Sullivan said on the 7th, “Hamas has revised the cease-fire plan, and this amendment could overcome the deadlock in negotiations. We believe there is a path to negotiations. There is something both sides can do to reach an agreement.” “It’s close enough that we have to do it,” he told reporters.
Egypt's state-run Al Qahera TV reported early on the morning of the 9th, citing a source in the talks, that "disagreements are being resolved and there are signs of reaching an agreement," Reuters reported.