US President Joe Biden said Sunday that Israel’s occupation of Gaza would be “a big mistake” but appeared okay for an inside operation against the Palestinian group Hamas.
“I think it’d be a big mistake,” Biden said in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes program.
“What happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people, ” Biden claimed, adding,” I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again, but going in and taking out the extremists — the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south — is a necessary requirement”.
Stating that he believes that Israel will comply with the rules of war in Gaza, Biden said the people of Gaza will have access to food, water, and medicine.
He claimed that Hamas must be eliminated entirely but there needs to be a Palestinian authority, adding “There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”
Noting the path, “the two-state solution,” which he said has been US policy for decades, Biden added: “It would create an independent nation next to Israel for 5 million Palestinians.”
Biden’s remarks came amid reports that the Israeli military is preparing to launch massive ground aggression.
The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel – a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.
Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Al-Al-Quds and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s response has extended to cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern Strip to evacuate to its southern portion.
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza has risen to 2,700.
In a statement, the ministry said that 750 children were among the dead. The number of wounded has risen to 9,700, it said.
SD/PR
