Obama criticizes Israel for cutting off water and food supplies from Gaza and sparking a ‘humanitarian crisis’ – and hints a ground invasion could ‘ultimately backfire’

Former President Barack Obama called for a strategy to ‘eliminate’ Hamas even as he watches to protect civilians – with a stern warning that Israel’s strategy to cut off water and power from Gaza could backfire for ‘generations’.

Obama wrote in a message about Medium that he fully supports Biden’s call to support Israel in the fight against Hamas after what he called the “heinous attack on Israel” that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people, including “defenseless women, children and the elderly.”

But the former president goes further than the current president in condemning some of Israel’s actions on moral and strategic grounds.

Biden has called on Israel to follow the rules of war, saying last week he was “warning the government of Israel not to be blinded by anger” in its response to the attacks. There are also reports that the government is urging Israel to consider a possible ground invasion of Gaza.

Obama explicitly criticizes Israel’s decision to cut off Gaza’s water and energy supplies, a policy that drew criticism from 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 frees the hostages that Hamas fighters brought to Gaza after the brutal October 7 attack.

‘Thousands of Palestinians have already been killed in the bombing of Gaza, including many children. Hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes,” Obama wrote.

“The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population not only threatens 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,” the former said. president.

He then calls for a strategy that can “eliminate Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties.”

Israel has not launched a potential ground invasion of Gaza 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 praised Israel’s decision to allow aid trucks into Gaza, calling it a “shift” that was “driven in part” by Biden’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Biden called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi when he returned from Israel.

But he called for “accelerating” aid, while calling for cooperation with Palestinian leaders in the peace process.

Obama called for combating anti-Semitism “in all its forms, everywhere,” following global reports of incidents, although he also called for rejecting “anti-Muslim, anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian sentiments” and refused ” to lump all Palestinians together’. with Hamas or other terrorist groups.”

Obama, who signed the controversial nuclear deal with Iran during his time in office but saw no real progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, said Israel has “every right to exist” while using “dehumanizing language” toward the people of Gaza.

He said Palestinians “have also been living in disputed areas 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 has too often received tacit or explicit support from the Israeli government; that Palestinian leaders willing to make concessions for a two-state solution have too often had little to show for their efforts.”