Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), running a long-shot race against President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, offered tough criticism of Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza in an interview on Jewish Insider’s “Inside the Newsroom” series Thursday.

Asked if he supported Israel’s military operation to oust Hamas from Gaza, Phillips said: “This is not an issue about what I think about Hamas. They have got to be eliminated. The issue is how Israel has prosecuted their defense, both before October 7 and right now, and any of you on this Zoom who feel that the best way for safety in the future for Israelis and the Jewish diaspora is to also kill tens of thousands of Palestinians, and have the entire world turn against us, including many American citizens. I simply disagree.”

Phillips added that he wanted Israel to engage in a “very targeted elimination of Hamas” but also wanted “these hostilities that take human lives to cease.”

Watch the whole interview here with Phillips, including his comments on his friendship with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), his view on whether House Democrats should endorse incumbents in primaries, and his reasons for taking down the “DEI” section of his campaign website.