Israeli Military Strategy That Ignores Human Costs Could Ultimately Backfire: Barack Obama
Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire, says former US President Barack Obama. In a long statement published on medium.com, President Obama has also called on all of the key actors in the West Asia region to engage with Palestinian leaders and organizations that “recognize Israel’s right to exist to begin articulating a viable pathway for Palestinians to achieve their legitimate aspirations for self-determination,” to achieve the lasting peace and security most Israeli and Palestinian families yearn for.
President Obama’s statement is coming on the 18th day of Israel-Palestine war which has claimed more than 400 Palestinian lives in Gaza in last 24 hours. In total, at least 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the war began on October 7 after the Gaza-based militant organisation Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
The statement which begins with supporting Israel and the US foreign policy for throwing all the weight behind ‘friend’ Israel, Mr Obama has also said the Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.
“It’s therefore important that those of us supporting Israel in its time of need encourage a strategy that can incapacitate Hamas while minimizing further civilian casualties,” he added.
Israel’s recent shift to allow relief trucks into Gaza, according to Mr Obama “prompted in part by the Biden administration’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy, is an encouraging step, but we need to continue to lead the international community in accelerating critical aid and supplies to an increasingly desperate Gaza population.”
“It means acknowledging that Palestinians have also lived in disputed territories for generations; that many of them were not only displaced when Israel was formed but continue to be forcibly displaced by a settler movement that too often has received tacit or explicit support from the Israeli government; that Palestinian leaders who’ve been willing to make concessions for a two-state solution have too often had little to show for their efforts; and that it is possible for people of good will to champion Palestinian rights and oppose certain Israeli government policies in the West Bank and Gaza without being anti-semitic,” he wrote.
