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US says ceasefire must include end to Hamas rocket fire
AFP - Saturday, January 3
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The United States said Friday it was working toward a ceasefire that permanently prevents Hamas from resuming rocket attacks on Israel, as calls mounted worldwide for Israel to halt its week-long siege.
After briefing President George W. Bush on events 18 days before he hands the White House to his successor Barack Obama, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also said she had no plans at the moment to travel to the Middle East.
"We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza," Rice said.
"It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable."
On Wednesday the White House backed Israel's refusal to cease its assault on Gaza, saying Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were "on the same page."
The Islamist movement Hamas must agree to stop firing rockets into Israel now and in the future before any potential ceasefire to the Gaza violence that began Saturday and has so far left nearly 400 Palestinians dead, White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe said.
Johndroe also told reporters at Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch Hamas should stop smuggling weapons to show "they don't intend to continue to target Israel."
In her remarks to reporters, Rice repeated the US stand that any ceasefire must be a "durable" one, in contrast to the previous six-month agreement that expired on December 19.
"Obviously, the United States is very concerned about the situation there and is working very hard with our partners around the world to address it," Rice said.
In the last week Rice has spoken with her counterparts from Israel, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia Britain, the European Union as well as to Israeli Prime Minister Olmert of Israel and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Rice again pinned the blame for the violence on Hamas, the Islamist Resitance Movement that seized power in Gaza in June 2007 after ousting the US-backed Palestinian Authority of Mahmud Abbas.
"I might note that it was Hamas that rejected the Egyptian and Arab calls for an extension of the (ceasefire) that Egypt had negotiated," Rice said.
"But I have been in constant contact with the key Arab states, I have talked with our European colleagues, and we are talking constantly with the Israeli government to find a solution to Gaza that will be a sustainable one for the people of Gaza, for the people of Israel, and for the people of the Palestinian territories of the Middle East more broadly," he said.
"The president has also been in touch with the major leaders of the Arab states and with the Israelis, and we're going to continue our work toward a ceasefire ... that will be durable," she said.
Asked if she planned to travel to the Middle East to broker an end to the crisis, Rice replied: "I have no plans at this point."
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters joined rallies all over Lebanon on Friday to condemn Israel's deadly raids on the Gaza Strip and what demonstrators called Egypt's complicity in the attacks.
There have been similar protests in other Arab capitals as well as in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
The Israeli offensive, launched a week ago on Saturday in response to a wave of rockets fired from Gaza, has killed at least 422 people and wounded more than 2,100 others.
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Enlarge Photo
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing after meeting with US President George W. Bush at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 2. Rice said Friday the United States was working toward a ceasefire that permanently prevents Hamas from resuming rocket attacks on Israel, as calls mounted worldwide for Israel to halt its week-long siege.
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