The White House has backed Israel's refusal to halt its Gaza offensive, saying the US President and Israel's Premier are 'on the same page'. "I think [US] President [George W.] Bush thinks that Hamas needs to stop firing rockets, and that is what will be the first steps in a ceasefire," White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
He added that Hamas should also stop smuggling weapons to show "they don't intend to continue to target Israel."
"So I think they're certainly on the same page on that," Johndroe said of US President Bush and Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert following the two's earlier phone call.
Olmert has so far rebuked mounting international calls to end the violence in Gaza.
The Israeli military operation dubbed as Operation Cast Lead has raised concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a small, aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million people.
Israel launched its attacks on the Gaza Strip on Saturday, pounding over 300 Hamas-linked targets as well as schools, TV stations and mosques.
On Wednesday, the death toll in the strip reached to 397 people while six Israelis have been killed by rocket attacks since the raids on Gaza started.
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Topic: 'US, Israel on the same page over Gaza' (Read 449 times)