President Biden has been asking Netanyahu to avoid attacking Rafah in Gaza. But Netanyahu has ignored him, and is currently starting the attack there. In retaliation, President Biden has stopped the shipment to Israel of massive 2,000 pound bombs (and also 500 pound bombs).
A 2,000 pound bomb is not a precision weapon. It destroys whole city blocks. In a densely populated area like Gaza, it guarantees "collateral damage" (the killing of innocent civilians). And that is exactly what has happened. Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed (14,000 of them children) and over 78,000 have been injured - most of them by the indiscriminate use of 2,000 and 500 pound bombs.
Republicans are whining about Biden's cessation of the bomb shipments. They claim Biden is refusing to help defend Israel in its time of need. That is not true. Biden is continuing to ship defensive weapons (such as those used to destroy incoming missiles).
But a 2,000 pound bomb is not a defensive weapon. It is an offensive weapon used to destroy structures and create a large number of casualties.
The U.S. cannot keep Netanyahu from attacking Rafah, but it can (and must) not supply the weapons guaranteed to case massive civilian casualties.
Israel has the right to seek and destroy Hamas terrorists, but the use of 2,000 pound bombs in a densely populated area is not the best way to do that. This massive killing of civilians is likely to create more terrorists than it kills.
President Biden was right to stop shipping these bombs to Israel, and he should continue the ban until a ceasefire is reached.
