The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Crawford

Rebuffing Arab appeals, the United States on Monday gave its blessing to Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip but said it was working behind the scenes to forge a "durable ceasefire."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was reaching out by telephone to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, which has left at least 345 people dead in Gaza, officials said.

President George W. Bush stayed out of sight on his Texas ranch but discussed the crisis with Jordan's King Abdullah II one day after speaking by telephone with Saudi King Abdullah, the White House said.

"The president's message to King Abdullah, his overall message, is that we want to see the violence stop, but in a way that leads to a durable and sustainable cessation of violence. We can't have the violence stop now only for it to start up again in the near future," said spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

While both kings reportedly pressed Bush to help stop "Israeli aggression" in Gaza, widely denounced in the Arab world, Johndroe blamed recent Hamas rocket fire for triggering the bloodshed and defended the Israeli retaliation.

"The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," he told reporters in Texas. "They are taking the steps that they feel are necessary to deal with the terrorist threat.

"In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," said Johndroe. "That is what the United States is working towards."

To that end, Rice spoke to UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, EU special envoy Javier Solana as well as her French, British, Canadian, Egyptian, Russian, Saudi, Turkish and Israeli counterparts, said US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.