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Rice briefed President George W. Bush at the White House about the deadly toll in Gaza, where intensifying rocket fire from Palestinian militants has elicited days of punishing air assaults by Israel. Both Rice and Bush have been working the phones with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as officials from Arab states and European countries, in hopes of securing peace. The United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization and does not deal with it directly. "The Hamas has used Gaza as a launching pad for rockets against Israeli cities, and has contributed deeply to a very bad daily life for the Palestinian people in Gaza and to a humanitarian situation that we have all been trying to address," Rice told reporters on the White House driveway after meeting with Bush. "It is obvious that that cease-fire should take place as soon as possible," Rice said, "but we need a cease-fire that is durable and sustainable." Hamas-run Gaza has been largely isolated from the rest of the world since the Islamic militants won parliamentary elections in 2006. Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, expelling forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who still rules the West Bank. Rice said Hamas has "held the people of Gaza hostage ever since their illegal coup," referring to the ousting of Abbas' Fatah forces last year. President-elect Barack Obama is receiving the same intelligence reports on the Gaza violence as Bush is, and Rice has spoken to Obama about the situation at least once in the last week, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. Israel launched the aerial campaign last Saturday in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. The offensive has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but has failed to halt the rocket fire. New attacks Friday struck apartment buildings in a southern Israeli city. No serious injuries were reported. Israel has been building up artillery, armor and infantry on Gaza's border in an indication the punishing air assault could expand with a ground incursion - a step that could vastly broaden the casualties and the consequences for the region. At the White House, Johndroe would not comment on a possible ground invasion by Israelis, but cautioned: "Any actions they take in this overall operation that they are involved in right now need to avoid civilian casualties, and we also need to continue the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza." As for the potential for a cease-fire, Johndroe said Hamas must stop its rocket fire. "Israel has a right to defend itself from these rocket attacks," Johndroe said. "And so, we'll see." Rice spent much of New Year's Day working the phones on the Gaza situation, calling Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddine Al-Bashir twice each, the State Department said. Rice also spoke Thursday with the foreign ministers of Britain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirate along with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who serves as an envoy for the international "Quartet" of Mideast peacemakers. On Friday, Rice discussed Gaza with the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1, department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters. Questioned by a reporter, Rice said she had no plans to visit the Middle East to broker peace in the waning days of the Bush administration. "It's just as easy for her to keep on working the phones from here in Washington rather than being in the region right now," Johndroe said later. Israel on Friday bombed a mosque it claimed was used to store weapons and destroyed homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives Friday, but under international pressure, the government allowed hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports to leave besieged Gaza. Bush returned to Washington on Thursday afternoon from a holiday stay at his Texas ranch, where he got immersed in a flurry of diplomacy. Bush made a host of calls from Texas, including contacts with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas and others. --- Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this story. |
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