President Barack Obama says he has "no sympathy for Hamas," the Palestinian terror group that launched hundreds of rockets into Israel during their month-long conflict,
Time reported.
In a press conference Wednesday at the State Department following the Africa Leaders Summit, Obama said, "it is important to remember that Hamas acts extraordinarily irresponsibly when it is deliberately [firing] in population centers."
But while saying that Israel has the right to defend itself, he added, "I have great sympathy for the people who are struggling in Gaza," according to Time.
Hundreds of Palestinian civilians have died in the fighting, while dozens of Israeli soldiers have also been killed.
The African summit of 50 countries ended on Wednesday with the United States committing an unprecedented $37 billion in aid, according to
VOA News.
The trade and investment package includes a long-term U.S. security plan to help African nations handle the terrorist groups Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabab in Somalia, as well as radical groups in the Sahel.
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"We will join with six countries who have recently demonstrated a track record as peacekeepers: Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda," Obama told the conference, according to VOA News. "And we will invite countries beyond Africa to join us in supporting this effort because the entire world has a stake in peacekeeping in Africa."
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