Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a ‘big mistake,’ warns US President Joe Biden

“I think it’d be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again,” he said. Israel had previously occupied Gaza from 1967 till 2005.

Reacting to Biden’s interview, Israel’s UN ambassador said today that his country has no intention of staying in Gaza. “We have no interest to occupy Gaza or to stay in Gaza, but since we are fighting for our survival, and the only way – as the President himself defined – is to obliterate Hamas, we will have to do whatever is needed to obliterate their capabilities,” he said, as per a report in Israeli media house Haaretz.

‘Two-state solution not dead’

Biden said that while he believes that Hamas must be eliminated, he stressed the need for a Palestinian authority and that “there needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”

When asked if he thought that Israel would still be open to pursing that path after this month’s attack, the American leader said, “not now.”

“Not now, but– but I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told CBS News.

On Iran

Biden also warned Iran and Hezbollah against participating in or escalating the war but added that there was no clear evidence of Tehran’s involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel.

When asked what his message to the militant group Hezbollah, which supports Hamas, is, Biden said, “Don’t. Don’t, don’t, don’t.”

“Iran constantly supports Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said, adding, “But in terms of were they… did they have foreknowledge; did they help plan the attack [on Israel]… there’s no evidence of that at this point.”