President Bush: Hamas must first stop firing rockets

January 1, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — It’s President George W. Bush’s belief that the first step in any cease-fire in the ongoing violence in the Mideast will require the Islamic militant group Hamas to agree to stop firing rockets into Israel now and in the future, the White House said Wednesday.

From his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Bush called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the first time since the conflict escalated between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

“I think President Bush thinks that Hamas needs to stop firing rockets and that is what will be the first step in a cease-fire,” White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe told reporters traveling with the president. He said Hamas also needs to stop smuggling weapons into Gaza — a move that would show they don’t intend to continue to target Israel.

“So I think they’re certainly on the same page on that,” Johndroe said of Bush and Olmert, briefing reporters on their phone call.

Israel so far has resisted mounting international pressure to suspend its devastating air offensive against militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has enraged the Arab world. It sent more troops and tanks to the border as signs of an impending ground invasion multiplied.