- By Mayukh Debnath
- Mon, 16 Oct 2023 09:23 AM (IST)
- Source:ANI
Israel-Palestine War: US President Joe Biden has said that there is a "fundamental difference" between the killing of Israelis in the attack launched by Hamas and the casualties incurred by the Palestinian side in Israel's counteroffensive.
Justifying Israel's response to the onslaught unleashed by Hamas during an interview with CBS's '60 Minutes', Biden said the recent large-scale Hamas attack on Israeli territory was "as consequential as the Holocaust". He also noted that Jews have been subject to "abuse, prejudice and attempt to wipe them over a thousand years".
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"Look, there's a fundamental difference. Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And so I think Israel has to respond," the US President stated.
"They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They're hiding behind the civilians. They put their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. But to the extent they can separate out and avoid, I'm confident the Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians," he said.
Biden called Israel's occupation of Gaza a "big mistake". On being asked whether he would support a potential repeat of the Israeli occupation of Gaza, Biden said, "I think it'd be a big mistake...And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again."
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He further absolved the civilian population of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian exclave of being responsible for the latest armed conflict underway in the Middle East. "Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people."
(With inputs from ANI)
