Report: Obama Monitoring Escalating Conflict In Gaza Strip

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President-elect Barack Obama is closely monitoring the situation in Gaza and has spoken to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a transition official told Politico on Sunday.

Israeli forces continued their air strikes for the second day against militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, killing nearly 300 Palestinians. The strike, which may soon be replaced by a ground offensive, was in response to mortars and rockets fired by Hamas into Israel.

Hamas, a militant Islamist group that took control of Gaza in 2007, ended a six-month ceasefire last week, saying Israel had violated the terms. It sent a barrage of rockets overnight into Friday morning while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attempted to broker a truce.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had also issued an appeal to people in Gaza to force Hamas to stop the bombardment, as well as a warning that Israel had "enormous power... which will be devastating."

Obama, who is in Hawaii for a 12-day vacation with his family, made an eight-minute call to Rice on Sunday, an aide to the president-elect is quoted by Politico as saying. The presidential transition team's chief national security spokesperson, Brook Anderson, also told Politico, "President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time."

The White House has rebuked Hamas, saying its rocket fire against Israel is "completely unacceptable."

"If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, then Israel would not have a need for strikes in Gaza," National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas where President George W. Bush is spending the week before New Year's at his ranch.

"These people are nothing but thugs, so Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas that indiscriminately kill their own people," Johndroe added. "They need to stop. We have said in the past that they have a choice to make. You can't have one foot in politics and one foot in terror."

AHN's Ayinde O. Chase contributed to this report.