US President Joe Biden said that Israel’s occupation of Gaza would be “a big mistake” but appeared okay for an inside operation against the Palestinian group Hamas.

“I think it’d be a big mistake”, Biden said in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes program.

“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, but going in and taking out the extremists - the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south - is a necessary requirement.

I believe that Israel will comply with the rules of war in Gaza, the people of Gaza will have access to food, water and medicine.

Hamas must be eliminated entirely but there needs to be a Palestinian authority, there needs to be a path to a Palestinian state”, - said Biden.

Noting the path, “the two-state solution”, which he said has been US policy for decades, Biden added: “It would create an independent nation next to Israel for 5 million Palestinians”.