By NNN-KUNA
Washington : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked Hamas to do everything it can to control rocket attacks against Israel, in a first sign of recognition of the Palestinian militant role in Gaza.
“Hamas should do everything that it can to do what it has not yet done, which is to use whatever capacity it has to stop the rocket attacks against Israel, because that is the essential problem out of Gaza,” she said in a press conference Monday.
“We have been very clear that there should be no humanitarian cost to the innocent people of Gaza who simply have the bad fortune to be in Gaza after Hamas launched its illegal coup against the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian Authority,” Rice said. She made her remarks after a bilateral meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
Rice said that she spoke Sunday night with her Egyptian counterpart about the border with Gaza. “We understand the complexity of that situation and want very much to see a resolution that would return order to that border,” she said.
On the Iranian nuclear issue, Rice said she is pleased that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany agreed last week in Berlin on a draft for a new resolution on Iran describing it as a “negotiated product”.
“The important thing is that it both deepens the sanctions against Iran and it opens the possibility of new directions,” said Rice about this suggested draft that could be the third sanction resolution on Iran.
“It is a resolution that will show Iran that it continues to be isolated from the international community, that it has no friends when it comes to its desires to pursue technologies that could lead to a nuclear weapon,” she concluded.