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.
Hamas said on Mon day that Israel had not resumed water supplies for the Gaza Strip despite pledging to do so, while an Israeli official responded that some water was being provided to an area in the south of the enclave.
Israel stopped piping water to Gazans as part of a siege imposed to stop food and fuel from reaching the enclave of 2.3 million people, many poor and dependent on aid in response to a surprise Hamas offensive on October 7 that left 1,300 Israelis dead, according to officials.
The Gaza health ministry has said the death toll from Israeli strikes on the territory has risen to around 2,750 while some 9,700 people have also been injured. Some 600,000 Gazans have been displaced while supplies are running out.—Agencies
