From Voice of America News (emphasis mine):
In comments to reporters after a briefing for President Bush, Rice sharply criticized Hamas, which she said has held the Gaza strip hostage since illegally seizing power there in 2007 and used the coastal strip as a “launch pad” against Israel – deeply contributing to the humanitarian crisis there.
(Thanks to Juan Ochoa for the tip)
January 4, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Condoleezza Rice, having observed that more than 300 Gazans were dead, said: “We are deeply concerned about the escalating violence. We strongly condemn the attacks on Israel and hold Hamas responsible.”
Someone should ask her to comment on teenage knife-crime, to see if she’d say: “I strongly condemn the people who’ve been stabbed, and until they abandon their practice of wandering around clutching their sides and bleeding, there is no hope for peace.”
January 4, 2009 at 7:17 pm
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/01/shades-of-the-2006-lebanon-war.html
January 7, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Excerpt from
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/630-about-my-daily-life-in-gaza-strip-rafah
On December 28th, we woke up at 7am after an Israeli F16 attack. Our house was shaking. We all tried to imagine what had happened, but we wanted to at least know where the attack was. It was really scary. We tried to open the main door to our flat, but it was stuck shut after the attack.
Two friends and I climbed out the window to leave the house. It was a shock when I found our neighbor’s pharmacy was the target. It was just 60 meters from our house. They targeted a pharmacy. I still don’t believe it and can’t imagine it. I filmed and asked some people who were really close to the pharmacy about what happened and their thoughts,
64 year-old Saed said, “At almost 6:30 am three missiles were fired by Israeli fighter jets. They hit the pharmacy in our neighborhood and the surrounding shops. They’re just civilian buildings. And as you can see, the street is damaged. All of the buildings are damaged. The Palestinian people elected Hamas in a democratic election, and all the world witnessed the election. And we are punished because of Palestinian democracy. If it were Israeli democracy the world would welcome it. I’m 64 years old and I never saw a sweet day in all my life. Since I was born in 1945 we’ve been in a conflict with the Israelis.”