U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he believes the HAMAS militant group must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after top U.S. officials warned the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate.

NBC reports that President Joe Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday that he believes Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, must be fully eliminated and that it is necessary to establish a Palestinian state.

"There needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," Biden said in an interview filmed Thursday for CBS' "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday evening.

Reuters notes that Biden did not think American troops would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the "finest fighting forces," even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.