Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza in spite the U.S. threat to halt some weapon shipments.

Netanyahu in a public speech posted today on his official X account, said “no amount of pressure” will stop Israel from “defending itself” and “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s stance comes hours after U.S. President Joe Biden was reported to have said he would halt some shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where more than 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. had already paused “one shipment of high payload munitions” to Israel, although having already sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel since the ongoing conflict broke up on Oct. 7, 2023.