Rice tells Olmert she concerned about Gaza civilians

By Arshad Mohammed and Tova Cohen

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern about Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to "make the terrorists pay a very painful price".

But Rice, who met Olmert in Tokyo on Thursday, stopped short of an explicit call for Israel to exercise restraint in dealing with rocket attacks by Islamic group Hamas.

A surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence along the border of Gaza has raised fears of a full-scale conflict amid public pressure on Olmert for tougher military action to deal with rocket attacks by Islamic group Hamas.

A rocket launched from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip killed a man in Israel on Wednesday, the first such death in nine months, and Israeli air strikes killed six Palestinian militants and five civilians in the territory.

Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week to try to push along U.S.-brokered peace talks complicated by the growing violence.

Asked if she had urged Olmert not to use disproportionate force in responding to rocket attacks from Gaza, Rice told reporters: "I think that's not a good way to address this issue. The issue is that the attacks -- rocket attacks -- need to stop."

She said she had reiterated to Olmert U.S. concerns about the humanitarian situation.

"I am concerned about the humanitarian conditions there and innocent people in the Gaza who are being hurt. We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza ... But of course we are concerned about innocent people and we are concerned about the humanitarian situation," she said after the one-hour breakfast meeting.