WASHINGTON: Some of Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas, like cutting off food and water for Gaza, could “harden Palestinian attitudes for generations” and weaken international support for Israel, former US President Barack Obama said on Monday.
In rare comments on an active foreign policy crisis, Obama said any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs of the war “could ultimately backfire.”

Yocheved Lifshitz, an Israeli grandmother released by Hamas militants on Monday, is a peace activist who together with her husband helped sick Palestinians in Gaza get to hospital for years, her grandson told Reuters.
The Palestinian militants said they released Lifshitz, 85, and a second woman Nurit Cooper, 79, on health grounds, after taking them and more than 200 others hostage during an Oct. 7 gun rampage in Israel in which the militants killed 1,400 people.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas target in a Gaza refugee camp that the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said killed or wounded dozens of people late on Monday.

A spokesperson for the military said the strike targeted a staging ground for Hamas in Gaza’s Al-Shati camp, which abuts the Mediterranean coastline. The spokesperson did not provide further details.

In a statement on Facebook, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said casualties in the Israeli attack included children and women. He did not provide further details.

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Monday that any discussions about a Gaza cease-fire could only take place if Hamas frees all hostages seized from Israel in its October 7 attack.
“We should have those hostages released and then we can talk,” Biden said at a White House event when asked if he would support a “hostages-for-cease-fire” deal.
Biden then apologized for having to leave the event to promote his economic program ahead of next year’s election, saying he had to go to the White House Situation Room for “another issue I have to deal with.”

LONDON: Western media may be warning of “drastic implications” for the global economy should the conflict in Gaza spill over into neighboring countries, but Middle East analysts predict that the economic brunt of a wider conflagration will be borne by crisis-ridden regional countries.