As Israel is preparing for the Gaza invasion, US President Joe Biden has warned Israel against the occupation of the Palestinian territory, saying the ground assault would be “a big mistake”.
Massing thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, the Israeli military has said it is awaiting the “political” green light to go into northern Gaza.
In a video clip posted by CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Monday, Biden backed a humanitarian corridor to let people flee the war-hit area as well as allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, including food and water, into Gaza.
“I am confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war,” Biden said.
The US president said that he did not believe Hamas represented “all the Palestinian people” and that he wanted to see the group totally eliminated.
Biden said he did not think American troops would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the “finest fighting forces,” even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Over 1 million people flee Gaza
More than one million people have fled their homes in Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair as Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and continued amassing troops Monday in preparation for a full-blown ground invasion.
Israel declared war on the group a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
Israel then unleashed a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza that has flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the territory, mainly civilians.
