Israel's President Isaac Herzog signaled that, once they have been able to occupy the Gaza Strip, Israel may continue its occupation there to try to prevent Hamas from taking over control in the blockaded enclave, but U.S. President Joe Biden warned that such a move would be "a big mistake."
"If we pull back, then who will take over? We can't leave a vacuum. We have to think about what will be the mechanism; there are many ideas that are thrown in the air," Herzog said in an interview with the FT published on Thursday.
Herzog told the FT that Israel's government was discussing many ideas about how Gaza would be run once the war ends and added that he assumed that the United States and "our neighbors in the region" would have some involvement in the post-conflict order.
Biden said on Wednesday that he had made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a two-state solution was the only way to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict and that occupying Gaza would be "a big mistake."
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says Gaza, where Hamas has run since being elected to govern in 2007, is an integral part of a future Palestinian state.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas but has not put forward a plan to determine who would govern Gaza after the war if they are successful in their objectives. Netanyahu has said that Israel would have to maintain overall security responsibility in Gaza for an indefinite period.
Israel troops forced their way into Al Shifa Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday and spent the day deepening their search, the Israelis said. "The troops continue to search the hospital in a precise, intelligence-based, manner," army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press briefing late on Wednesday. Witnesses describe horrific conditions inside the hospital due to the Israeli total siege, with medical procedures conducted without anesthesia, families lacking food and water in corridors and the smell of decomposing corpses filling the air.
A journalist trapped inside Al Shifa reported Israeli soldiers entering the facility, shooting in the air and rounding up young men. About 1,000 male Palestinians, hands above their heads, were in the courtyard, some stripped naked by Israeli soldiers.
Despite no Hamas military headquarters being found, Biden is claiming Hamas was committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under the hospital. He said Israel had gone into Al Shifa with a limited number of troops with guns. However, he fails to condemn Israel for its war crimes in the blockaded enclave, which included bombing hospitals, churches, schools, mosques, refugee camps, ambulances and more. Over 11,500 people, mostly children and women, were killed in Israeli attacks and surviving Palestinians have no food, shelter, water, or fuel.
"They were told ... we discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful," Biden told reporters on Wednesday.
The Israeli military made no mention of finding any tunnel entrances in Al Shifa. It previously said Hamas had built a network of tunnels under the hospital. Hamas has denied it and dismissed the latest army statements.
"The occupation forces are still lying ... as they brought some weapons, clothes and tools and placed them in the hospital in a scandalous manner," Qatar-based Hamas senior member Ezzat El Rashq said. "We have repeatedly called for a committee from the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross to verify the lies of the occupation," in response to Israeli claims of finding weapons.
Biden told reporters he was doing everything in his power to free hostages held by Hamas, but that did not mean sending in the U.S. military.
The U.S. has come under global scrutiny for its unwavering support of Israel's relentless attacks on civilians in Gaza and its failure to call for a cease-fire.
Washington has boosted its military presence in the Middle East, sending two aircraft carriers and support ships to the region, to prevent the conflict spreading and to deter Iran, a longtime backer of Hamas, from getting involved.
Iran's supreme leader told the head of Hamas when they met in Tehran in early November, according to three senior officials: "You gave us no warning of your Oct. 7 attack on Israel and we will not enter the war on your behalf."
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Ismail Haniyeh that Iran would continue to lend Hamas political and moral support, but wouldn't intervene directly, said the Iranian and Hamas officials with knowledge of the discussions who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely.
Jordan on Wednesday condemned in the "toughest of terms" Israel's shelling around the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza which injured seven staff, and said it would await the results of an Israeli investigation before taking legal and political steps to hold Israel accountable for the crime.