Officials said Bush has succeeded in eliciting an Israeli pledge not to
destroy the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. They said the president has
urged Israel to agree to a U.S.-Saudi effort to achieve a ceasefire with
Hamas that would ensure several months of calm in the region.
Officials said the United States has drafted a ceasefire resolution for
the United Nations Security Council that called for international monitors.
Under the resolution, they said, Hamas would end missile and rocket fire and
Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Bush has been in telephone contact with Saudi King
Abdullah, Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. They said Qatar, regarded as a
key friend of Hamas, has also been contacted, while Egypt has renewed talks
with Hamas after a cessation of several weeks.
On Jan. 3, the United States rejected a proposed Security Council
statement for an immediate ceasefire. Officials said the U.S. opposition was
based on an assessment that Hamas was not yet ready to honor the ceasefire.
"It would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success,
would not do credit to the council," U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN,
Alejandro Wolff, said.
In a Jan. 2 address, Bush said any Israeli ceasefire with Hamas must be
monitored by the international community. In June 2008, Israel and Hamas
agreed to a lull in violence that lasted about five months.
"There must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that
smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end," Bush
said. "In the days ahead, the United States will stay closely engaged with
our partners in the region, in Europe, and in the international community."
A range of administration officials have been in contact with Israeli
leaders during the Hamas war. Officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice was on the telephone at least once a day with Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been discussing
developments with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak. Adm. Michael Mullen,
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also said to have received an
Israeli briefing.
Officials said the administration expected the Israeli offensive to last
no more than a week. They said the war could begin winding down on Jan. 6 in
wake of a scheduled meeting by the Security Council.
"They have said, now, for a period of months — they told me on my last
trip over there -- that they didn't want to have to act, where Gaza was
concerned," Vice President Richard Cheney said on Jan. 4. "They had gotten
out of there three years ago. But if the rocketing didn't stop, they felt
they had no choice but to take action. And if they did, they would be very
aggressive, in terms of trying to take down Hamas. And that's exactly what's
happened."