Former president Jimmy Carter called on the West to recognize the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas as a legitimate "political actor" that represents the bulk of the Palestinian population.
Carter made the comments in an article he co-wrote with former Irish president Mary Robinson in a new issue of Foreign Policy magazine. It was published as a cease-fire took hold Tuesday after four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which governs Gaza.
In a sharply worded rebuke to Israel, Carter and Robinson said, "There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war."
Israel launched an air and ground offensive into Gaza in response to Hamas militants firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. The Palestinian Health Ministry said nearly 1,900 Palestinians, most civilians, have died in the fighting. Israel said 64 of its soldiers and three civilians were killed.
Hamas, the United Nations and the United States have condemned Israel for strikes on schools used as shelters that have caused many civilian casualties. The United Nations, the United States and Israel have accused Hamas of hiding weapons in schools and other civilian locations.
Carter has emerged in recent years as an outspoken critic of Israel, taking provocative stands on the long-running Mideast conflict.
Carter achieved a major diplomatic achievement with the Camp David Accords in 1978, which produced peace between Israel and Egypt. Since then, he "has kind of wandered off the highway," said Aaron David Miller, a vice president of the Wilson Center and a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican presidents.
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