The United States on Friday gave Israel free rein over whether to have ground troops join a week-long air assault on the Gaza Strip as it urged Hamas to meet the key Israeli demand for a ceasefire, afp reported.
Both the White House and the State Department stressed Israel's right to defend itself as the US government came under growing criticism for its handling of a conflict that has claimed more than 400 Palestinian lives.
White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe said the United States has urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties in their military operations, whether they involve continued air assaults or a ground incursion.
"So I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," Johndroe told reporters.
"Those will be decisions made by the Israelis," he said when asked if Israel would be justified in launching a ground assault.
Israel has thousands of troops massed for a ground offensive on Gaza that would aim to deal a hammer blow to Hamas and re-establish Israel's military credentials with its other foes, experts said.
After briefing President George W. Bush about Gaza, 18 days before he hands the White House to his successor Barack Obama, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was pursuing diplomacy with key partners.
"We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza," Rice told reporters outside the White House.
"It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable," she said.
US officials say Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are "on the same page" about the conditions for a ceasefire.
Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, said Rice has since New Year's Day spoken to former British prime minister Tony Blair, the envoy for the Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
She has also spoken since then to Olmert and her counterparts David Miliband of Britain, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nayhan of the United Arab Emirates, Salah Bashir of Jordan and Ahmed Abul Gheit of Egypt, he said.
Duguid said she also spoke Friday to Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which has assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union.
In the last week Rice has spoken with counterparts Tzipi Livni of Israel, Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Javier Solana of the European Union and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Johndroe added that Rice has also spoken to Obama at least once in the last week.
Rice again pinned the blame for the violence on Hamas, the Islamist Resitance Movement that seized power in Gaza in June 2007 after ousting the US-backed Palestinian Authority of Mahmud Abbas.
Asked if she planned to travel to the Middle East to broker an end to the crisis, Rice replied: "I have no plans at this point."
The Israeli offensive, launched a week ago on Saturday in response to a wave of rockets fired from Gaza, has killed at least 422 people and wounded more than 2,100 others.
It has prompted condemnation from around the world, but particularly from Arab and Muslim countries.
In New York, Amnesty International sent a letter to Rice berating the administration for its "lopsided" support for the Israeli assault and urged it to suspend weapons deliveries to Israel.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser for US president Jimmy Carter, told US Cable News Network that Rice's remarks "clearly show that the US policy right now is completely bankrupt."
"This (Israeli offensive) will further radicalize the Palestinians and make the peace process even more difficult, not too mention the very tragic human dimension of the conflict," he said.
He said chances of achieving peace are more remote today than they were when Bush took office eight years ago -- even though Bush and Rice revived Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Annapolis, Maryland in November 2007.
He said Obama, whom he supports, will have to make a "fresh start" when he succeeds Bush on January 20.
Brzezinski said the Obama administration will have to take "concrete initiatives regarding at least the general outlines of an equitable peace settlement" because the parties cannot end their conflict on their own.