Tel Aviv, Israel - Israeli officials turned on US President Joe Biden on Thursday for threatening to stop arms supplies to Israel if it invades the crowded Gaza city of Rafah.

Biden on Wednesday issued Israel with his starkest warning yet.

"If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used... to deal with the cities," Biden told CNN.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs. It's just wrong."

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for May 19, 2024: Get your funny on

Sticking to a script that has been applied to even the mildest criticism of Israel's brutal war on the blockaded strip, far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir suggested in an X post a love affair between Biden and the Islamic militant group Hamas, authors of the October 7 attack.

Other diplomats were more measured by comparison.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said on public radio that it was "a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war."

But he also insisted that the withholding offensive weapons would give Iran, Hamas, and the powerful Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah "hope to succeed."

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has repeatedly urged the "total annihilation of Gaza," said his government would pursue its goals despite the US threat.

"We will achieve complete victory in this war despite President Biden's push back and arms embargo," he said in a statement.

"We must continue the war until Hamas is totally eliminated and our hostages are back home. This involves conquering Rafah completely and the sooner the better."

Israel's brutal campaign has already killed close to 35,000 Palestinians, with tens of thousands more missing or stuck under the rubble that covers the now virtually uninhabitable territory.