Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility (Flickr/AslanMedia)

"It's not sustainable - I mean, the notion that we're going to continue to keep over 100 individuals in a no-man's land in perpetuity," Obama said. "It hurts us, in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counter-terrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed."

“The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried...that is contrary to who we are, contrary to our interests, and it needs to stop,” the president said. 

As the New York Times reported Tuesday, nearly 40 Navy nurses, corpsmen and specialists being termed "medical reinforcements," arrived at the Cuban detention facility in an effort to assist with the hunger strike.

The controversial facility currently holds 166 suspected terrorists, many of whom have not been tried or charged. Some have been inprisoned since the facility opened in 2002 after the U.S.-led "War on Terror" began.

The most recent hunger strike began in February amid complaints that prison guards mistreated the prisoners Korans, and the hunger strikes began shortly thereafter. 21 individuals are currently being force-fed, though none are currently in life-threatening situations.

"I don't want these individuals to die," Obama said, defending the U.S. military's course of action.

Reach Executive Producer Salomon Fuentes here; Follow him on Twitter here.