- The former president expressed support for Biden’s support of Israel
- But he criticized Israel’s decision to cut off supplies of food, fuel and water
- He said it could “harden Palestinian attitudes for generations.”
Former President Barack Obama called for a strategy to “take out” Hamas even as it stands guard to protect civilians – with a dire warning that Israel’s strategy to cut off water and electricity to Gaza would be for “generations.” could backfire.
Obama wrote in a post on Medium that he supported Biden’s call to support Israel in its pursuit of Hamas after what he called a “horrific attack on Israel” that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people, including “defenseless women, children and the elderly People”, I fully support.
But then the former president goes even further than the current one by condemning some of Israel’s actions on moral and strategic grounds.
Biden called on Israel to abide by the rules of war and said last week that in his response to the attacks he had “warned the government of Israel not to be blinded by anger.” There were also reports that the government was urging Israel to consider a possible ground invasion of Gaza.
Obama specifically criticizes Israel’s decision to cut off Gaza’s water and energy supplies, a policy that was rebuked by UN agencies this weekend. The government has declared a “siege” and Israel’s energy minister has said it will not open the tap until Hamas releases the hostages that Hamas militants brought into Gaza after the brazen October 7 attack.
Former President Barack Obama has written an essay with his “Thoughts on Israel and Gaza.”
“Thousands of Palestinians have already been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children.” Hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes,” writes Obama.
“The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a trapped civilian population not only threatens to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; “It could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, undermine global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies and undermine long-term efforts for peace and stability in the region,” the former president said.
He then calls for a strategy that can “take out Hamas while minimizing further civilian casualties.”
Israel has yet to launch a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip 17 days after the attack, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his unity government called for the destruction of Hamas following the attacks.
Obama criticized Israel for cutting off Gaza’s water and other resources while condemning the horrific attack inside Israel
Obama praised Israel’s decision to allow aid trucks into Gaza, calling it a “turnaround” prompted in part by Biden’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Biden spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on his return from Israel.
However, he called for an “acceleration” of aid while calling for participation in the peace process with Palestinian leaders.
Following reports of incidents around the world, Obama called for combating anti-Semitism “in all its forms, everywhere,” but also called for rejecting “anti-Muslim, anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian sentiment” and refusing to accept “all Palestinians in… to throw a pot”. with Hamas or other terrorist groups.’
Obama, who signed the controversial Iran nuclear deal while in office but saw no real progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, said Israel had “every right to exist” while calling out “dehumanizing language” toward the people of Gaza.
He said Palestinians “have also lived in disputed areas for generations; that many of them were not only displaced at the founding of Israel, but continue to be forcibly displaced by a settler movement that has too often received tacit or explicit support from the Israeli government; that Palestinian leaders who were willing to make concessions for a two-state solution too often had little to show for their efforts.”