Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, described Biden’s comments about the US arms shipments pause to Israel as “largely symbolic”.
Over the past year, the US has committed to sending substantial amounts of military aid to Israel, he told Al Jazeera, adding that the pause on shipments still held political weight and it was a clear sign of Biden’s “displeasure” with Netanyahu “whose decision to escalate on Rafah was always a US red line”.
The move also appears to be an attempt to pressure Netanyahu to accept ceasefire terms, Owen Jones noted.
“If Netanyahu continues in Rafah, he will likely fail militarily without arms. If he doesn’t go in, he may lose his coalition. Either way, it could be the beginning of the end of Netanyahu’s presidency,” he said.
