WASHINGTON, US
Any move by Israel to occupy
the Gaza Strip again would be a “big mistake,” US President Joe Biden said in
an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground
invasion.Israeli troops prepare weapons and armed vehicles near the southern city of Ashkelon on Oct. 15, 2023 amid fears of a ground invasion of Gaza.
Israel, seeking vengeance for
an attack by Hamas on October 7, has declared war on the militant group,
launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people
in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation.
Asked by CBS news program 60
Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden
replied: “I think it’d be a big mistake.”
Hamas “don’t represent all the
Palestinian people,” he continued.
But invading and “taking out the extremists” is a “necessary requirement,” he
added.
The Hamas attack saw fighters
shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
Israel’s reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighborhoods and
killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians.
Israel has faced grave warnings
about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups
warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the
challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely
occupied territory.
Israel first occupied Gaza
during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in
2005.
A year later, Israel imposed
an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile (362 square kilometer)
strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2007 Israel tightened the
blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
When asked if Hamas — whom
Biden described as “a bunch of cowards” — must be eliminated entirely, he
replied: “Yes I do.”
“But there needs to be a
Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,” he
continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution.
60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley
also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war.
“I don’t think that’s
necessary,” Biden, who pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted
that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion,
replied.
“Israel has one of the finest
fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we’re gonna provide them everything
they need,” he said.
The United States has already
deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show
of support for Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment