Obama Condemns Palestinian Rocket Fire, Silent on US-Backed Israeli Mass Killings in Gaza
Meanwhile, Obama made his first substantive comments on the Middle East conflict since Israel’s attack on Gaza. Obama first mentioned his commitment to Israel’s security, without affirming his commitment to Palestinian security. He condemned Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns, but didn’t criticize the US-backed Israeli bombings of densely populated Gaza. But in a departure from the Bush administration, Obama acknowledged Palestinian suffering and said Gaza’s borders should be opened to aid.
President Obama: “I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza. Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water and basic medical care, and who’ve faced suffocating poverty for far too long. Now we must extend a hand of opportunity to those who seek peace. As part of a lasting ceasefire, Gaza’s border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce, with an appropriate monitoring regime, with the international and Palestinian Authority participating. Relief efforts must be able to reach innocent Palestinians who depend on them.”
In further comments that could signal a departure from Bush, Obama mentioned the Arab League peace initiative, which would offer Israel normalized relations in return for a full withdrawal from the Occupied Territories and a just resolution for Palestinian refugees. The Bush administration had backed Israel’s rejection of the offer and its expansion of settlements in the Occupied West Bank.
President Obama: “I should add that the Arab peace initiative contains constructive elements that could help advance these efforts. Now is the time for Arab states to act on the initiative’s promise by supporting the Palestinian government under President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, taking steps towards normalizing relations with Israel, and by standing up to extremism that threatens us all.”
While Palestinan President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Obama’s comments, a Hamas spokesperson told Al Jazeera television Obama’s position does not represent change.
Palestinian Health Ministry: Gaza Toll Passes 1,400
Obama’s comments come as thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to return to destroyed homes. On Thursday, thirteen-year-old Dalal Abu Aisha visited the site where her parents and three younger siblings were killed, their home now reduced to rubble.
Dalal Abu Aisha: “What remains from my sister’s mattress is only the iron springs. My sister’s body was stuck together with my mother’s body, and they couldn’t separate them, so they left them together. They couldn’t separate them, so they buried them together.”
Dalal had missed the attack on her home because she was visiting an aunt whose young daughter had been killed the day earlier by an Israel tank. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has put the Palestinian toll at more than 1,400 killed and 5,500 wounded. One of Gaza’s leading human rights groups, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, says nearly 70 percent of the deaths were civilian. Overall, thirty-four health facilities—eight hospitals and twenty-six clinics—were damaged or destroyed in the Israeli attack.
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