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The 44th President of the United States has made his boldest statement on the latest Israel-Palestine conflict. Speaking over the weekend, Barack Obama declared that Palestinians are now in an ‘unbearable situation’ – but he refused to pick sides during the debate.
A war has been raging for almost a month, about Hamas militants lead a full-scale attack against Israeli civilians. The bloodshed, which initially claimed over 1,000 lives, has escalated into an armed conflict. Upwards of 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the clashes.
Both Hezbollah and Iranian authorities have added fuel to the fire, denouncing the statehood of Israel and threatening to physically join the war in support of Palestine. Israel, meanwhile, has been publicly backed by the governments of the UK and US respectively.
Barack Obama, however, does not see the issue as a binary one. He implored people on both sides to speak to each other, and have difficult conversations with people they don’t agree with. The ex-Democrat leader says everyone should admit ‘their hands are not clean’.
He acknowledged the atrocious nature of Hamas’ attacks on 7 October, but also pointed out that the occupation of Palestine had become ‘unbearable’. Obama bemoaned the increasing civilian death toll, and demanded that all parties find a way forward.
“What Hamas did was horrific and there’s no justification for it it. And what is also true is that the occupation and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable. There are people right now who are dying who have nothing to do with what Hamas did.”
“If you want to solve the problem, you have to take in the whole truth: Admit that nobody’s hands are clean, and all of us are complicit. I look at this and think, what could I have done to move this forward? These are the conversations we must have.” | Barack Obama
