Israelis are ready to fight with their bare hands, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday , quoted by "Reuters" and News.bg.
His statement was in response to US President Joe Biden's warning that arms supplies could be halted because of a planned operation in Gaza.
The Biden administration has said it cannot support a major incursion into Rafah in the absence of what it sees as a credible plan to protect non-combatants. Israel said victory in the seven-month conflict was impossible without the capture of Rafah.
Netanyahu's government remained silent on reports that Washington was holding back a shipment of bombs - until Biden went public with the move on Wednesday, saying it was part of a US warning to Israelis not to "enter Rafah".< /p>
"If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone, Netanyahu said, without referring specifically to the US announcement. If we have to, we will fight with our claws, he said in a video statement. But we have much more, and with this strength of spirit, with God's help, together we will win."
The conservative prime minister's comments were echoed by the other two voting members of his military cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and centrist former defense minister Benny Gantz. No one specifically said that a deeper cleanup of Rafah would be ordered.
"I turn to Israel's enemies as well as our best friends and say - the State of Israel cannot be conquered, Gallant said in a speech. We will be strong, we will achieve our goals - we will hit "Hamas", we will hit the Lebanese "Hezbollah" and we will achieve security."
Gantz expressed appreciation for the unprecedented support and supplies of the United States in the war.
"Israel has a national security and moral obligation to continue fighting to return our hostages and end the Hamas threat against southern Israel, he said in X. And the United States has moral and strategic duty to provide Israel with the tools it needs for this mission."
Along with the public spat, the United States is trying to help Egypt-Qatar-brokered talks between Israel and Hamas that will release some hostages.
They tripped over the demand of "Hamas" to end the war in Gaza. Israel is only willing to enter into a ceasefire. Negotiators on Thursday left recent meetings in Cairo without a deal, and Israel said it would go ahead with the planned operation in Rafah.
Israel's chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told a briefing that the armed forces had enough ammunition for Rafah "and other operations that are planned.
Meanwhile, Rafah was attacked again on Thursday.