President Joe Biden said in an interview aired Sunday that Israel shouldn't reoccupy Gaza in the wake of the massive terrorist attack Hamas carried out against Israel last week.
Speaking to CBS's "60 Minutes" in an interview was filmed Thursday, Biden was asked about the notion of Israel reoccupying Gaza, to which he replied, "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," Biden said. "But going in but taking out the extremists — the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south — is a necessary requirement."
When asked if he thinks Hamas must be eliminated entirely, Biden answered in the affirmative, saying, "Yes, I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state."
Biden said that he supports a "humanitarian corridor" to allow innocent civilians safe passage from Gaza while Israel fights Hamas, saying, "Our team is talking to them about that, whether there is an outlet to get these women and children out of that area at the moment — but it's hard.
"There's a standard that democratic institutions and countries go by. I'm confident that there's going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water," Biden added.
Israel has called for 1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate to its southern half. U.S. officials have been working to help Americans looking to leave both Gaza and the West Bank, however, none that they know of have been able to get out, according to The Hill.
Jeremy Frankel ✉
Jeremy Frankel is a Newsmax writer reporting on news and politics.
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