WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush on Monday maintained his firm support for Israel and said any Gaza ceasefire must ensure Hamas militants can no longer fire rockets on Israeli towns.
As global calls mounted for a halt to the Israeli military assault aimed at stopping mortar and rocket attacks from the impoverished coastal territory, Bush said he understood Israel's wish to defend itself.
"I understand Israel's desire to protect itself and that the situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas," Bush said.
The United States was concerned about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip on the 10th day of a relentless Israeli air and land assault against Hamas militants, Bush said.
"All of us of course would like to see, you know, violence stop, but not at the expense of an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again," the US leader said.
"I know people are saying: let's have a ceasefire. (Those are) noble ambitions. But any ceasefire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets."
Medics say 555 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's Operation Cast Lead was launched on December 27 to stop Hamas and its militant allies from launching rocket attacks across the border into southern Israel.
The Israeli government has so far rejected European-led calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament Monday the Hamas war would go on.
"Gaza City is partially surrounded," Barak told MPs. "We have hit Hamas hard, but we have not yet reached all the goals that we have set for ourselves and the operation continues."
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since breaking with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and seizing power in June 2007, has also remained defiant.
"Victory is coming," the movement's senior leader in Gaza, Mahmud Zahar, said in a television address. "They (Israel) have legitimized the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino reiterated Washington's concern for civilians in the densely populated territory which is home to 1.5 million people, and said Israel was trying to protect innocent life.
"We urge them to be very cautious when it comes to civilian casualties. We want to keep those to an absolute minimum," Perino said.
"One of the unfortunate things is that Hamas often hides amongst innocent civilians. And I know that Israel has said that they are trying to take care to make sure that they are protected."
Perino added that the White House wants a ceasefire "as soon as possible, but it has to be something that is durable. We don't want to go back to the status quo ante, where it's okay for Hamas to be lobbing rockets into Israel that terrorize innocent people."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said any ceasefire must meet three conditions: halt rocket fire on Israel, open crossings into Gaza and resolve the problem of tunnels used to smuggle weapons between Gaza and Egypt.
He also said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had made 17 phone calls over the weekend, trying to strike a deal for a truce.
Meanwhile, president-elect Barack Obama expressed concern about the Gaza crisis but stressed he would not interfere in "delicate negotiations" by the outgoing US administration.
Asked whether Israel's offensive against Hamas was distracting him from his economic agenda a day after he arrived in Washington to prepare his transition, Obama said: "Obviously, international affairs are of deep concern."
"With the situation in Gaza, I've been getting briefed every day," said Obama, who is to be inaugurated on January 20.
"I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake."
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