Following the U.S. State Department's call for an immediate - yet "durable" - ceasefire in Gaza, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday, "We want to get to a durable and lasting ceasefire as soon as possible. And if that is immediate, then we would certainly welcome that."
Perino stated that the ceasefire should include three elements: a cessation of rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel; an end to smuggling through tunnels into Gaza and a return to the 2005 access agreement which allows open border crossings. "Those are the three things that we would like to get to in a cease-fire, and that's what Secretary Rice will be working towards today," Perino added.
"We have counseled our ally Israel to be very cautious about protecting innocents, and I do think that the Israelis take great care to do so. I saw the reports about the school. I don't have any information about that. I think that we should not jump to conclusions, and we should wait to find out what the evidence says. What we do know is that Hamas often hides amongst innocents, and uses innocent people, including children, as human shields. So I think we need to wait and find out all the facts before we make a judgment as to what happened in this incident," the Press Secretary stated.
The November 2005 U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority allowed for movement of Arabs between Gaza and Judea and Samaria. The agreement was supposed to allow Gaza Arabs to move between various parts of Israel by bus and truck convoys.
In addition, the construction of a seaport in Gaza and airport was agreed upon.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated Tuesday that a ceasefire must not allow a return to the conditions that allowed Hamas to continue to attack Israel with rockets and mortars. "A ceasefire that returns to those circumstances is unacceptable and will not last," said Rice.
President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday: "I am doing everything that we have to do to make sure that the day that I take office we are prepared to engage immediately in trying to deal with the situation" in Gaza. He explained that he was referring "not only the short-term situation but building a process whereby we can achieve a more lasting peace in the region."
