Former US President Jimmy Carter is calling for the West to recognize Hamas as a legitimate “political actor” that was elected by the bulk of the Palestinian population – instead of as a terrorist organization, as it is considered by the US and Israel – if there is to be an end to the cycle of violence in the Middle East.

In an article co-written with former Irish president Mary Robinson in Foreign Policy magazine, Carter heavily repreimanded Israel for a war that has killed more than 1,875 Palestinians – more than 1,200 of whom were civilians and many of them young – and 65 Israelis.  Water supplies and electricity grids are non-operational. 

“There is no humane or legal justification for how the Israeli Defense Force is conducting this war, pulverizing with bombs, missiles and artillery large parts of Gaza, including thousands of homes, schools and hospitals,” wrote Carter.

The two former Presidents said Israel should at least partially lift the blockade of Gaza and allow “for the teachers, police, and welfare and health workers on the Hamas payroll to be paid” to ensure “necessary requirements for a human standard of living”.  Qatar had earlier offered to make Hamas’ payroll, but Israel had nixed the overture.

Carter negotiated the Camp David Accords in 1978, which led to a treaty the next year that brought a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.  Their respective leaders at the time, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that year.  Carter got one in 2002 for his decades of successful international diplomacy, advancing human rights, and ensuring democracy through election monitoring with the Carter Center.