Rice Condemns Rocket Attacks, Objects to Retaliation
(IsraelNN.com) American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at a meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Japan, said that the Kassam rocket attacks against Israel "need to stop" but said that Israeli retaliation is not the solution. Reacting to the death of one Israeli in one of the 40 attacks on the Negev and southern Ashkelon Wednesday, she told the Prime Minister she was sorry about the fatality.
Secretary Rice also expressed her "concern for the innocent people and the humanitarian situation in Gaza." She also praised Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for their "remarkable commitment" in trying to advance negotiations towards the creation of a new Arab state within the current borders of Israel.
Rice To Visit Israel, PA Next Week
(IsraelNN.com) American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make another visit to the Middle East next week in an effort to advance negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). She is due to arrive Sunday and remain until Thursday, American State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters at a news briefing in Washington Wednesday.
Her trip will come as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists escalate their rocket attacks on the Negev. Longer-range rockets hit Ashkelon Wednesday evening, exploding near Barzilai Hospital. Responding to a journalist's question on Wednesday's Kassam attack that killed one Israeli, Casey said, "There always are going to be things that will happen that will try and distract or sideline parts of these discussions. But the important thing is that in President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert, we have two leaders who are committed to moving forward on what is a very difficult set of negotiations to resolve this longstanding problem and bring about a two-state solution."
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