U.S. blames Hamas for ceasefire break with Israel

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern about the escalating violence and called for immediate restoration of the ceasefire. "We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there," she said in a statement.

In an apparent warning to minimize the risk to civilians, Rice said, "the United States calls on all concerned to protect innocent lives and to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza."

BLOODIEST DAY

The number of people killed in Gaza was the highest one-day death toll in 60 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Militants in the Gaza Strip, who have launched dozens of rocket attacks against Israel since a truce expired just over a week ago, fired more salvos that killed one Israeli man.

The United States is Israel's strongest ally and the Bush administration has taken the position that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Bush had hoped to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before leaving office and in November 2007 hosted a conference at Annapolis, Maryland, to relaunch talks aimed at reaching agreement on a Palestinian state by the end of this year.

But the Annapolis process stalled and all sides acknowledged that there was no chance for a peace deal before the Republican president leaves the White House on January 20 when Democrat Barack Obama will be inaugurated as president.

Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, did not comment on the Israeli air strikes. His national security spokesman, Brooke Anderson, said the president-elect was "closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time."