US President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to aggressively pursue Middle East peace as for the first time since taking office he laid out his vision for ending the age-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, AFP reported.
"It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians," Obama added on his first visit to the State Department since his inauguration on Tuesday.
"I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days, and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza.
"Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water and basic medical care, and who have faced suffocating poverty for far too long.
"Just as the terror of rocket fire aimed at innocent Israelis, is intolerable, so, too, is a future without hope for the Palestinians."
But he also warned Hamas militants, that they must halt rocket fire on southern Israel and that Washington would continue to support Israel's right to defend itself.
"For years Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at innocent Israeli citizens. No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people," Obama said.
"To be a genuine party to peace ... Hamas must meet clear conditions, recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and abide by past agreements."
The new president urged Israel to open up the border crossings into Gaza to allow aid and commerce to start flowing and for "relief efforts must be able to reach innocent Palestinians who depend on them."
Obama added he would support an international donors conference set to meet in Egypt next month to raise funds to rebuild the devastated Gaza Strip.
Obama also vowed that the United States would support a "credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime, so that Hamas cannot rearm."
