By Ehichioya Ezomon
Former United States President Barack Obama is backing President Joe Biden’s proposal aimed at a ceasefire and end of the war in Gaza, ensures Israel’s security, and returns hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7 attacks on Israel.
Besides, the proposal aims to increase aid into Gaza and relieve suffering of Palestinian civilians, and engage Israelis, Palestinians, Arab countrie, and the international community in the process of rebuilding Gaza.
Obama’s support for the Biden proposal, posted to his X handle on June 1, 2024, has garnered princely 52.1m views, 197k likes, 40.7k reposts, and 50k comments in 24 hours.
However, as Obama noted, a ceasefire alone won’t ease the terrible pain of Israelis whose loved ones were butchered or abducted by Hamas, or the Palestinians, whose families have been shattered by the subsequent war (in Gaza)
“It won’t resolve the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, or answer contentious issues surrounding a two-state solution or continuing settler activity in the West Bank,” Obama said.
“But what it can do is put a stop to the ongoing bloodshed, help families reunite and allow a surge of humanitarian aid to help desperate, hungry people.
“It can save lives, here and now – and it can lay the foundation for what will be a long and difficult road to a future in which Israel is secure and at peace with its neighbours, and Palestinians finally have the security, freedom and self-determination that they have sought for so long,” he added.
Obama recalled that as the tragedy in Gaza has unfolded over the past eight months, Americans have witnessed an often fierce public debate at home, and around the world, regarding how the United States should respond.
“But no matter where each of us stand in these broader debates, an enduring ceasefire is something we should all support – for the sake of Israelis, Palestinians and the world at large,” he said, adding, “I am deeply encouraged by the steady, tireless efforts of President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and our diplomatic team to bring this awful war to an end.”
The New Diplomat recalls that in an unprecedented daring attack on October 7, 2023, a band of Hamas militants and allied armed groups stormed Israel, killing, maiming, burning and raping, and left behind over 1,200 killed, mostly civilians, and seized over 200 hostages, among them some dead bodies.
In response, Israel, caught unawares despite its touted impenetrable security architecture, embarked on a scorched-earth war on Gaza, killing so far over 35,000 Palestinians, majority of them women and children, leveling towns and cities, forcing millions to evacuate from one safe camp to another, and severely restricting desperately needed aids coming into Gaza.
Several ceasefire proposals and release of Israelli hostages, and Palestinians incarcerated in Israel, have collapsed even at their negotiation stages, due to rejections in part or whole by Israel and or Hamas.
The latest proposal by President Biden looks like the last hope in the war in Gaza, from where Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly vowed to uproot the Hamas militants and its military governance, to ensure the October 7 tragedy never happens again to Israel.
