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Tweet this storyIsrael took action on Saturday to defend its citizens with targeted air strikes against terrorist leaders and their strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
A President George Bush-led government put responsibility for ending the violence on the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, blaming the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas for breaking the ceasefire.
"The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"The ceasefire should be restored immediately," she said. "The United States calls on all concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza."How would the U.S. respond under a President Barack Obama? Would Obama continue the long-time U.S. stance to defend Israel? Or would he negotiate peace by forcing Israel to give up more land? The latter clearly doesn't work. Yet the Arab League has urged Obama to act on its plans to exchange land for peace.
Israel gave up all of Gaza in 2005. Since then, terrorists have launched more than 6,300 rockets and mortars into Israel from Gaza. The attacks have killed 10 civilians, wounded more than 780 and traumatized thousands of others.
Bush was the first president to call for the creation of a Palestinian state in 2002, but Iraq and Afghanistan took his focus to other areas of the Middle East.
When he visited Israel and the occupied West Bank in July, Obama pledged not to "wait a few years into my term or my second term" to press for a deal. Some believe the international community will help Obama bring a deal to pass sooner than later. What kind of deal remains to be seen.
A vacationing Obama did not comment on the Saturday air strikes in the Gaza Strip. However, Obama has previously defended Israel’s right to protect itself from such attacks: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing."
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