Not interested to occupy Gaza, says UN envoy

Washington, Oct 16: Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan said his country “has no interest” in occupying Gaza but will do “whatever is needed” to eliminate the Palestinian Hamas militant group which controls the densely-populated coastal enclave. His remarks on Sunday during a CNN interview came just hours after US President Joe Biden warned Israel against occupying the enclave as the Jewish nation signaled that it is preparing for a ground invasion amid the ongoing war with the Hamas. In response, Erdan said: “We have no interest to occupy Gaza or to stay in Gaza, but since we are fighting for our survival and the only way, as the President (Biden) himself defined is to obliterate Hamas, so we will have to do whatever is needed to obliterate their capabilities.” (IANS)