Obama demands release of Israeli soldier

Reuters/AFP/Washington

President Barack Obama on Friday called on Hamas and Palestinian factions to release a captured Israeli soldier as a precondition for resolving tensions between Israel and Palestinians and said efforts would be made to re-establish a ceasefire that has collapsed.

"If they are serious about trying to resolve this situation, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible," he told a news conference.

"A ceasefire was one way in which we could stop the killing, to step back and try to resolve some of the underlying issues," Obama said.

"Trying to put that back together is going to be challenging, but we will continue to make those efforts."   

Obama said the US "unequivocally condemned Hamas and the Palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli soldiers, and abducting a third almost minutes after a ceasefire had been announced".

He was speaking after a humanitarian truce in Gaza collapsed only hours after it began on Friday amid a deadly new wave of violence and the apparent capture by Hamas of an Israeli soldier.

"I want to make sure that they are listening," Obama said, addressing Hamas.

But the US leader added: "We have also been clear that innocent civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience and we have to do more to protect them."

Washington was going to keep working for a ceasefire, Obama said, praising the efforts of his secretary of state, John Kerry, who "has been persistent, he has worked very hard."

"He has endured on many occasions really unfair criticism. Simply to try to get to the point where the killing stops," Obama said.

And he insisted it was "not particularly revelant" whether Hamas or another group was behind the reported kidnapping of the Israeli soldier.

"The point is, when they sign on to a ceasefire, they're claiming to speak for all the Palestinian factions. And if they don't have control of them, and just moments after a ceasefire is signed, you have Israeli soldiers being killed and captured, then it's hard for the Israelis to feel confident that a ceasefire can actually honoured."