Obama Comments on Israel-Hamas Conflict… On Day 10

Tel Aviv, Israel — US President Barack Obama is said to be committed to “restor[ing] the cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas.

The President commented on how Israel had unilaterally accepted a cease-fire deal mediated by Egypt, one that was rejected by Hamas. “Unfortunately, Hamas continued to fire rockets at civilians during the Egyptian effort, thereby prolonging the conflict,” said the President.

The President proclaimed that Israel did indeed have the “right to defend itself” against the Hamas terror group. “As I’ve said repeatedly, Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorize the Israeli people. There is no country on Earth that can be expected to live under a daily barrage of rockets,” Obama said.

President Obama said he was “heartbroken by the violence, especially the death and injury of so many innocent civilians in Gaza – men,women, and children who were caught in the crossfire.”

Obama maintained that the US was on board with Egypt’s efforts to bring about a ceasefire between the two parties. “We are going to continue to encourage diplomatic efforts to restore the cease-fire, and we support Egypt’s continued efforts to bring this about,” he said.

Hamas has reportedly agreed to the five-hour truce proposed by the UN to allow for humanitarian relief to be delivered into Gaza. The temporary ceasefire is set to commence at 10:00 a.m. local time, or 3:00 a.m. eastern. “The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning,” a Hamas leader told AFP.