The Bush administration is calling on Islamic militants who control the Gaza Strip to halt rocket attacks on Israel and restore the cease-fire that expired on Dec. 19, Bloomberg reported.
"These people are nothing but thugs," Gordon Johndroe, White House spokesman, said yesterday in comments to reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President George W. Bush is vacationing at his ranch. "Israel is going to defend itself against people like Hamas."
Today, the U.S. joined in a United Nations Security Council statement that expressed concern about the escalating violence and urged both sides to reinstate the cease-fire. Hamas and the Israelis should "stop immediately all military activities," the statement said.
Two days of Israeli air strikes on targets in Hamas-ruled Gaza have killed as many as 285 Palestinians and destroyed more than 90 percent of police installations affiliated with the Islamic-militant group. The bombardment began yesterday, after dozens of rockets were fired at Israel's southern towns following the end of the six-month cease-fire.
Israel's Cabinet today agreed to call up as many as 7,000 army reservists, signaling that the air raids may be followed by a ground invasion to halt Hamas attacks.
"The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday in a statement released by the State Department. "The cease-fire should be restored immediately."
President-elect Barack Obama, who supported Israel's right to defend itself during a visit in July, has spoken with Rice and will continue to consult with her, David Axelrod, an Obama adviser, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" today.
"When bombs are raining down on your citizens, there is an urge to put an end to that," Axelrod, paraphrasing Obama's position in July, said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Hamas said in an e-mailed statement that Israeli planes struck this morning at the offices of its leader and former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, who wasn't reported harmed. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and European Union.
Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers began taking up positions overnight at points outside the perimeter fence of the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported. The army refused to comment on the report.
More than 100 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since the operation started yesterday, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. At least 200 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel in the past week, and 3,000 have been fired since the beginning of the year, an army spokesman said. One man was killed in Netivot yesterday.
In excess of 90 percent of Gaza's police installations affiliated with Hamas were destroyed in yesterday's strikes and both the police chief and the head of internal security were killed, Palestinian officials have said.