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Last update - 14:04 03/01/2009
Bush calls Hamas attacks 'acts of terror', says working on truce
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
Tags: U.S., Israel news, Gaza 

President George W. Bush on Friday branded the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel an act of terror and outlined his own condition for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups.

Bush chose his taped, weekly radio address to speak for the first time about one of the bloodiest Mideast clashes in decades.

Israel Air Force warplanes have been striking targets in the Gaza Strip for the past seven days, in an effort to stop the Palestinian militant group Hamas from traumatizing southern Israel with intensifying rocket attacks.





"The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire that is fully respected," Bush said. "Another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. And promises from Hamas will not suffice - there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end."

The White House released Bush's radio address one day early. It airs on Saturday morning.

More than 400 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed in the latest offensive. The UN estimated Friday that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians. In their waning days in power, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been working the phones with world allies to try organize a truce.

Bush offered no criticism of Israel, depicting the country's air assaults as a response to the attacks on its people. The White House will not comment on whether it views the Israeli response as proportionate or not to the scope of rockets attacks on Israel.

"This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas - a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction," Bush said. "Eighteen months ago, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup, and since then has imported thousands of guns and rockets and mortars. Egypt brokered a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, but Hamas routinely violated that cease-fire by launching rockets into Israel."

The president said Hamas ultimately ended the cease-fire altogether on Dec. 19 and soon unleashed a barrage of rockets and mortars that deliberately targeted innocent Israelis - an act of terror that is opposed by the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people, President Abbas.

Bush expressed deep concern about the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza. U.N. officials say Gaza's 1.5 million residents face an alarming situation under constant Israeli bombardment, with hospitals overcrowded and both fuel and food supplies growing scarce.

Bush blamed Hamas. "By spending its resources on rocket launchers instead of roads and schools, Hamas has demonstrated that it has no intention of serving the Palestinian people," Bush said.

"America has helped by providing tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, and this week we contributed an additional $85 million through the United Nations," Bush said. "We have consistently called on all in the region to ensure that assistance reaches those in need."

The White House has cautiously said Israel must be mindful of the toll its military strikes will have on civilians. Here, too, Bush blamed Hamas for hiding within the civilian population. "Regrettably, Palestinian civilians have been killed in recent days," he said.

Bush promised to stay engaged with U.S. partners in the Middle East and Europe and to keep President-elect Barack Obama updated.

Rice: U.S. and allies working toward durable peace

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier on Friday said the United States and key world allies were pushing hard for a durable and sustainable cease-fire in Gaza, but there was no end in sight to the violence. The top U.S. diplomat said she was not planning an emergency visit to the region.

Rice briefed President Bush at the White House about the deadly toll in Gaza, where intensifying rocket fire from Palestinian militants has elicited days of 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.

"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.

"U.S. 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 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 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 Emirates 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.

Related articles:
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  • Livni: Gaza truce would give Hamas legitimacy
  • IAF strike in Gaza kills senior Hamas political-military liaison
  • Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod
  • Ari Shavit / Israelis who blame Israel are not helping Gazans
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  • Israel Harel / Like in Lebanon, Israel blinked first in Gaza
  • Amira Hass / Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels
  • Olmert: Israel has no interest in a prolonged war in Gaza
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      1.   Statements which show the opposite 00:36  |  Mark Lincoln 03/01/09
      2.   Israel always act on behalf the white hosue 02:01  |  nassem 03/01/09
      3.   Bush? 02:31  |  Atoo 03/01/09
      4.   is a cease fire between u.s. and al qaeda acceptable 02:34  |  Joseph.E 03/01/09
      5.   Are settlements an act of war? Of course not... 02:45  |  Amercian 03/01/09
      6.   EU & ISRAEL provide FOOD & ENERGY to GAZA. IRAN provides WEAPONRY 02:57  |  Vittorio 03/01/09
      7.   America`s humanitarian aid is stolen by terrorists 03:16  |  Realist 03/01/09
      8.   Bush opposes peace treaty, Israel and Syria 03:22  |  Mark 03/01/09
      9.   Bush is right 04:12  |  Daniel Donaly 03/01/09
      10.   Thank You Bush For Telling It Like It Is 04:27  |  Eli 03/01/09
      11.   Well done Bush 04:59  |  aesaac 03/01/09
      12.   Oh Dear! No One-Way Cease-Fires Anymore? 05:50  |  Jeff Northridge 03/01/09
      13.   I continue to support George Bush 06:44  |  US CITIZEN 03/01/09
      14.   Atoo and others we are doomed 07:21  |  CP 03/01/09
      15.   Proportionality 07:21  |  Bruce 03/01/09
      16.   Proportionality 07:23  |  Bruce 03/01/09
      17.   Bush: Quack Quack 07:35  |  POP 03/01/09
      18.   Joseph E., feeling confused today? 07:50  |  BBSNews 03/01/09
      19.   Israel has listened long enough! 07:55  |  Don 03/01/09
      20.   Bush -effective arms control 08:11  |  Arie 03/01/09
      21.   Bruce, they want an end to decades of occupation... 08:17  |  BBSNews 03/01/09
      22.   Vittorio another moron in chief 08:21  |  Marilyn 03/01/09
      23.   Good-bye George - the worst president ever! 08:21  |  Palestinian Brit 03/01/09
      24.   Israelis Must Admit,Accept & Recognize The Zionism of 08:28  |  Joseph.E 03/01/09
      25.   #14 CP Your logic is wrong 08:47  |  Atoo 03/01/09
      26.   BBS News - Now I`m Confused 08:51  |  Mark of Lewiston 03/01/09
      27.   Hamas`s will and capability to attack the civilian population ... 10:05  |  Jehudah Ben-Israel 03/01/09
      28.   Joseph E in Givatayim 10:38  |  Abba 03/01/09
      29.   re: BBSNews 10:53  |  UsedToPostHere 03/01/09
      30.   The sooner Bush is gone the better. 10:54  |  Phil 03/01/09
      31.   A loyal American speaks # 13 10:54  |  Clickfool 03/01/09
      32.   Bush 11:04  |  Sam 03/01/09
      33.   If Bush doesn`t stay on as President I fear Iran might attack the 11:05  |  Historian 03/01/09
      34.   Contemporary Nazi`s 11:06  |  Walter 03/01/09
      35.   Condi vs. Mark Lincoln #1 11:13  |  FOX 03/01/09
      36.   BS news the Phalanx 11:22  |  FOX 03/01/09
      37.   No. 13-US citizen 11:41  |  steve 03/01/09
      38.   Not Just Terror, but a War Crime 11:45  |  FOX 03/01/09
      39.   BBS News - Now I`m Confused 2nd Try 11:56  |  Mark of Lewiston 03/01/09
      40.   29 FOX - That Extra $Billion 12:05  |  Mark of Lewiston 03/01/09
      41.   Bush correct but unbalance- Israel could have prevented such wars 12:06  |  Ivar 03/01/09
      42.   BBSNews #18 12:18  |  S 03/01/09
      43.   More BS from Bush! 12:22  |  Dav 03/01/09
      44.   mark of Lewiston, what do you know? 12:32  |  FOX 03/01/09
      45.   US bias and hypocrisy in a nutshell 13:29  |  Sylvie 03/01/09
      46.   Hypocticy???? 14:10  |  Hilda 03/01/09
      47.   evident 15:36  |  Tina 03/01/09
      48.   I Think Things Are Going To Be Okay... 15:42  |  Yosemite 03/01/09
      49.   Good Riddance Bush 15:49  |  Justice 03/01/09
      50.   predident bush`s clarity--still refreshing! 16:01  |  elliot 03/01/09
      51.   #25 better the debt than skyscrapers exploding all over USA 18:47  |  Yaakov Hillel 03/01/09
      52.   Bush need a shoo in his mouth instead 18:51  |  kam 03/01/09
      53.   to 49 self protection finslly after 7 yrs of being bombed 18:56  |  Yaakov Hillel 03/01/09
      54.   Bush 19:12  |  American 03/01/09
      55.   Bush`s remarks 19:14  |  Lee 03/01/09
      56.   Israelis are anti-American 19:24  |  peaceful 03/01/09
      57.   You know less than MoL Fox 19:37  |  Mark Lincoln 03/01/09
      58.   Thank you Mr. President for your understanding of our situation, 19:42  |  Ruth 03/01/09
      59.   the civilized world 19:47  |  Bob 03/01/09
      60.   This is a "Reckoning" 20:02  |  Marshall Wyatt Earp 03/01/09
      61.   Bush should tell Egypt to end the siege 20:03  |  observer 03/01/09
      62.   The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 20:04  |  Clint Eastwood 03/01/09
      63.   The Worst Amer Pres ever supports you 20:08  |  Joe Locasio 03/01/09
      64.   Conditions for Peace 20:17  |  Doubleclick 03/01/09
      65.   56 Peaceful, US troops killed many more children in Iraq 20:17  |  Eve 03/01/09
      66.   Bush Statements 20:27  |  Gary 03/01/09
      67.   #2, Not true ! 20:30  |  Gary 03/01/09
      68.   Bush calls Hamas attacks `acts of terror`, says working on truce 21:14  |  Dennis 03/01/09
      69.   Nobody listens to Bush 23:03  |  Peter 03/01/09
      70.   Hamas attacks ARE acts of terror!!!! 23:05  |  Grace Schneider 03/01/09
      71.   Palestinian Brit - BYE BYE HAMAS.... 23:56  |  B 03/01/09
      72.   G-d bless you Mr Bush ! 06:02  |  Akram Zekaria 04/01/09
      73.   Fussin & Fighting 09:11  |  Human 04/01/09
      74.   Bush calls Hamas attacks `acts of terror`, says working on truce 10:42  |  Rached 04/01/09
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