Washington, June 10: US President Barack Obama has called on Israel to work on a solution for Gaza, saying the situation in the blockaded coastal strip is “unsustainable.”
Obama made the remarks at a meeting with acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday at the White House.
Obama also pledged $400 million in US assistance for the Palestinians, but the aid will only go to the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.
Obama also stopped short of joining a broader international outcry against US ally Israel over the May 31 attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy and did not back Abbas’s demand for a lifting of the Gaza blockade.
Obama stated that the Freedom Flotilla incident was a tragedy and that it would be important to “get all the facts.”
“What we also know is that the situation in Gaza is unsustainable,” he told reporters with Abbas at his side.
The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea early on May 31, killing nine Turkish citizens on board the M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other people who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.
Israel also arrested nearly 700 activists from 42 countries on board the Freedom Flotilla, which was attempting to break the siege of Gaza in order to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to the long-suffering people of the territory. Later orders were issued for their deportation.
Israel also arrested and later released nearly 700 activists from 42 countries on board the Freedom Flotilla, which was attempting to break the siege of Gaza in order to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to the long-suffering people of the territory.
——Agencies