Clinton opens up about 2012 ceasefire

Hillary Clinton, who helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in 2012 while US Secretary of State, weighed in Tuesday on the current conflict during an appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

Clinton, reported to be mulling a 2016 presidential bid, noted on the comedy show that Israel had accepted an Egypt brokered ceasefire earlier that day, but Hamas rejected it.

“We’re really in a terrible dilemma,” she said. “Part of what I see Hamas doing is, their identity comes from being the violent resistance.”

During the interview, she seemed to sympathize with Israel’s position.

“When I negotiated the cease-fire in November of 2012, it was right on the brink with Israel once again invading Gaza because of the rockets … and the Israelis are absolutely right in saying that they can’t just sit there and let rockets rain down,”she said. “They have a missile defense which is working well, but that can’t be certain, and now there are drones, apparently, that are being launched from Gaza.”

She also said Gazans were “trapped by their leadership.”

— AP and Times of Israel staff