The US has asked Israel to avoid civilian casualties while attacking militant targets in Gaza, where warplanes continued to pound Hamas strongholds for the seventh day today taking the death toll beyond 400.
"What we have talked to the Israelis is about the need to be mindful that any of the actions that they're taking in Gaza avoid unnecessary civilian casualties and also to help continue with the flow of humanitarian goods," White House spokesperson, Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
While defending Israel's action in the wake of rocket attacks on the Jewish nation by Hamas, Johndroe, refused to comment on reports about Tel Aviv planning a ground offensive on Gaza.
"I don't want to speak to an operation that has not taken place that may or may not take place. Any actions they take in this overall operation that they are involved in right now need to avoid civilian casualties, and we also need to continue the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza," he said.
Defending military action by Israel, he said: "I think any steps they are taking... are part and parcel of the same operation, an operation that Israel has decided to undertake because they were no longer willing to put up with the barrage of rockets that Hamas has been raining down on them for the last few days, since they refused to renew the cease-fire".
The spokesperson also accused Hamas of not allowing the humanitarian supplies allowed by Israel to reach the people of Gaza "to create the idea of a humanitarian crisis"
The Secretary of State also said that Hamas was using Gaza as a launching pad for rockets against Israeli cities and accused the militant organisation of denying the Palestinian people in Gaza a right to have a reasonable life.
"Frankly, Hamas has made it very difficult for the people of Gaza to have a reasonable life," she said.
Asked if she would visit the Middle East to broker peace between the Israelis' and Hamas, Rice said that as of now she had no such plans but added that she has been in constant contact with the key Arab states and has also spoken to her European colleagues on the issue.
"We are talking constantly with the Israeli government to find a solution... that will be a sustainable one for the people of Gaza, for the people of Israel and for the people of the Palestinian territories of the Middle East more broadly," she said.
Rice said that the US President George W Bush was also in touch with the major leaders of the Arab states and with the Israelis.
