Biden says Israel must "eliminate" Hamas, but occupying Gaza would be a "big mistake"

The Israeli ambassador to the UN affirms that Israel "has no interest in occupying Gaza"

Petro: "Of course it is a mistake to occupy Gaza, but the US Government has the power to stop the massacre"

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, stated this Sunday that Israel must "eliminate" the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which controls the Gaza Strip, but has considered that a potential occupation of the enclave "would be a big mistake." .

"Look, about what has happened in Gaza, in my opinion, Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas do not represent all the Palestinian people. I think it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. But going in to eliminate the extremists, (the Lebanese Shiite militia party) Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, is a necessary requirement," he declared.

Biden has specified that, although he believes that Hamas must be completely eliminated, "there needs to be a Palestinian authority" and there needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," according to statements in an interview on CBS television. .

Thus, he has insisted that "that path, called 'the two-state solution,' has been US policy for decades," although he recognizes that Israel does not agree with that option "now." "I think Israel understands that a significant portion of the Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah," she remarked.

However, he has not advocated a ceasefire, despite the fact that the conflict has so far resulted in the lives of more than 2,600 Gazans and 1,300 Israelis, in addition to more than 55 deaths in operations and clashes. with Israeli forces in the West Bank.

In this sense, he assured that "Israel has to respond" and has "to pursue Hamas", which he considers "a group of cowards" that hides behind civilians. Thus, he has accused the Palestinian militia of being to blame for the deaths of civilians in Israeli bombings.

"(The Palestinian militants) put their headquarters where civilians and civilian buildings are, but to the extent that they can separate themselves to prevent it, I am sure that the Israelis will do everything in their power to prevent the killing of civilians," has stated before adding that he is "confident that Israel will act according to the laws of war."

While the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the evacuation of more than a million inhabitants to the southern area while it is constantly attacking the enclave, it has imposed a complete siege, so that for a week the Gazans have not received food, fuel , electricity or water. Given this, Biden has limited himself to saying that he is negotiating a humanitarian corridor in the area that allows the departure of civilians and the introduction of humanitarian supplies.

The American president has reiterated that there is no evidence that Iran is behind the conflict in Palestine and has sent a message to Tehran and Hezbollah not to cross the war or "escalate" the war.

"Iran constantly supports Hamas and Hezbollah. But in terms of whether they had prior knowledge or helped plan the attack... there is no evidence of that," he concluded.

When asked if the United States is willing to send troops to this war in the Middle East, he stated that he does not believe "that it is necessary" because Israel "has one of the best combat forces. However, it is worth noting that Washington has ordered sending two aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers to the region.

After the interview, the Israeli representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, stated in statements to the American network CNN that Israel "has no interest in occupying Gaza", but that it will do "whatever is necessary" to eliminate Hamas.

"We have no interest in occupying or remaining in Gaza, but since we are fighting for our survival and the only way, as the president (Joe Biden) himself defined, is to destroy Hamas, then we will have to do whatever is necessary to destroy their capabilities," he explained.

Erdan thus repeats the words of the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, who stated hours before that they had "no desire to govern the lives of more than two million Palestinians."

For its part, the United States Department of State has stated that the "brutal and violent terrorist attack" by Hamas has perpetuated the suffering of the Palestinian people and has reaffirmed its support for both the Israeli Government and the Palestinian civilians "who are in danger because of Hamas".

PETRO CRITICIZES THE US POSITION

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has criticized the position of the United States regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, ensuring that their governments "are increasingly coming together in these terrible circumstances."

"Of course it is a mistake to occupy Gaza, but the American government has the power to stop the massacre. If everyone does it, they will pressure Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and everyone will push for a peace agreement that allows two states free: Israel and Palestine," he stated.

Petro has been one of the leaders most critical of Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, which he has come to equate with those of Nazi Germany. So much so, that the Israeli authorities have announced the suspension of exports of security equipment to Bogotá and the Colombian president has threatened to suspend bilateral relations between both countries, because he does not "support genocides."

The president, who has appealed to other Latin American countries to demonstrate "solidarity" with Colombia, "an independent, sovereign and just people", has celebrated that the European Union claims in its latest statement the defense of International Law. "The systematic attack on civilians is prohibited. Genocides are prohibited," he insisted.