Rice urges to halt attacks on Israeli civilians

"The rocket attacks against innocent civilians in their cities, it needs to stop. No Israeli government can tolerate that," Rice said on Tuesday at the start of a Middle East tour.

"There also needs to be an active peace process," she said.

Rice was in Cairo on a new Middle East peace mission just a day after Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza after a series of strikes that has seen more than 120 people Palestinians killed there in less than a week.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, at a joint press conference with Rice, also accused Israel of "exaggerating" its military operations in Gaza aimed at halting rocket fire.

Rice accused Iran of arming Hamas, the Islamist group that violently seized power in Gaza in June.

"It is very clear that Hamas is being armed, and it is very clear that Hamas is being armed by the Iranians," she said.

She called on Israel to do more to prevent the loss of civilian life in its offensives against rocket fire.

"I have told the Israelis that when they are engaged in defending themselves they need to be aware of the effects of those operations on innocent people and what can happen the next day," she said.

Source DDNEWS