President Barack Obama has express concern to the Israel on the risk of an escalation of hostilities in the region and said the United States was ready to help broker peace.
Speaking on a phone call conversation with the Israeli Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Obama made an assurance that the US was ready to bring the escalating hostilities in the region to a stop.
The White House said Obama told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation that “the United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement,”
Obama emphasised that the American government condemned the rocket fire into Israel by Hamas and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against the attacks.
The Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke to his Egyptian counterpart in an attempt to get Egypt to use its influence to calm the situation, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated.
At a briefing earlier in the day, Psaki, stated that part of the secretary’s effort had been reaching out to countries in the region, including Qatar and Egypt.
“Any country in the region that can play a role in bringing an end to the rocket fire from Hamas, we’re certainly going to be engaged with,” he added.
The US government has refused to negotiate directly with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organisation.
A senior US official said Kerry’s phone call with Egypt’s foreign minister was a discussion about how to reduce tensions between Israel and Hamas and “how to influence Hamas if that’s possible”.
The Israelis “know we have been in touch with Egypt and Qatar” to seek help in calming the situation in Gaza, the official said.
Egypt played a crucial role in mediating an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in 2012.
