ISRAEL PREPARED TO STAND ALONE IN WAR - NETANYAHU

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was prepared to "stand alone" in its war in Gaza, after Washington vowed to stop supplying some weapons if a threatened assault on Rafah goes ahead.

Thousands of people have already fled the southern city after the Israeli military began what it called a "limited" operation on Monday.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned against the operation, saying that it would cross a "red line".

But Mr Netanyahu dismissed the US warning, saying Israel would fight on.

"If we need to ... we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary we will fight with our fingernails," the prime minister said.

Mr Netanyahu also invoked the war of 1948 - where the newly formed State of Israel was attacked by a coalition of Arab states - to dismiss the US warnings.