voa标准英语2008-US in Diplomatic Push for Renewed Gaza Cease-Fir

（单词翻译）

Seen from the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon (in the background), an Israeli missile strikes northern Gaza, 29 Dec 2008

With little more than three weeks left in office, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are applying all of the political leverage⁵ they have to try to restore the Gaza cease-fire and preserve the gains of a year of intensive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

While putting the blame for the crisis squarely on Hamas, the administration is urging Israel to avoid civilian⁶ casualties in Gaza and imploring⁷ nations in the region to use their influence to restore calm.

President Bush telephoned Jordan's King Abdullah early Monday while Secretary Rice continued a series of calls to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, among others.

State Department Acting⁸ Spokesman Gordon Duguid said the aim is to restore the Gaza cease-fire that lapsed⁹ earlier this month, but with an end to the rocket firings into Israel that prompted the Israeli offensive.

"The United States is working actively¹⁰ to restore the cease-fire," he said. "The responsibility for violating the truce¹¹ lies with Hamas. Hamas needs to stop its rocket attacks and then we believe the cease-fire can be restored. But it must be sustainable and durable."

Rice's outreach included calls to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Union chief diplomat¹² Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - the other principals in the international "Quartet" on the Middle East.
　

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (file photo)

Rice is also briefing the Barack Obama transition team and aides to incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her Gaza diplomacy.

U.S. political analysts say Israel timed its Gaza offensive so that military action would be over before Mr. Obama takes office on January 20. But they say the offensive has dimmed hopes for early progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

In a conference call with reporters, U.S. Council on Foreign Relations analyst³ Daniel Senor, a former chief U.S. spokesman in Iraq, said Israel would be disinclined to consider a West Bank withdrawal¹³ if the rocket threat from Gaza is not removed.

"The whole notion of a two-state solution, as far as the Israelis are concerned, it is on the line right now," he said. "What I mean by that is that if the Israelis can't be convinced that the U.S. and the international community will let them, if you will, defend against Gaza, then I think the West and the international community can forget about a serious process that would also involve disengagement from the West Bank."

Senor's fellow analyst at the New York-based policy group, Steven Cook, said the Gaza crisis also sets back hopes for peace-making by the Obama administration because it has undercut Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.

"It clearly, clearly complicates¹⁴ any effort to engage in a vigorous diplomatic effort because the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip has necessarily weakened Mahmoud Abbas, who has staked his political legacy¹⁵ and his vision of the Palestinians finally achieving their rights on negotiations¹⁶ with the Israelis," he said. "And it's hard to negotiate with the Israelis as they are attacking the Gaza Strip or have just completed attacking the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented¹⁷ since 1967 kind of military operation."

Officials from the Obama transition team have said little about the Gaza crisis, deferring¹⁸ to the outgoing administration. Senior Obama adviser¹⁹ David Axelrod told interviewers on Sunday that the president-elect wants to be a constructive²⁰ force for the peace and stability that both Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve.