U.S. President Joe Biden has warned Israel against occupying the Gaza Strip, saying any move by Israel to do so would be a "big mistake."

Israel, responding to a surprise Hamas incursion, launched an indiscriminate bombing campaign and warned more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of a likely ground operation.

Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: "I think it'd be a big mistake."

Hamas "don't represent all the Palestinian people," he continued.

But he added that invading and taking out the Palestinian resistance group was a "necessary requirement."

Israel's battering of the Gaza Strip has flattened entire neighborhoods and killed at least 2,670 people, mostly civilians. In comparison, the Hamas incursion reportedly claimed nearly 1,400 lives.

Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory.

When asked if Hamas must be eliminated entirely, he replied: "Yes I do."

"But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he continued, reiterating the long-standing U.S. call for a two-state solution.

60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee U.S. troops joining the war.

"I don't think that's necessary," Biden, who pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied.

"Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," he said.

The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel.