US blames Hamas for current round of violence

The US State Department put the blame for the most recent round of violence squarely on Hamas and its rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

“I would remind [who] is at fault here, and that is Hamas and the indiscriminate attacks that they have launched against Israel,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“While the Israelis have taken steps to try to prevent civilian casualties by warning – providing warning in advance, that is not what, of course, Hamas is doing, and they have continued their indiscriminate attacks against – including civilian areas in Israel,” she said during a press briefing.

Psaki added that “no country should have to live under the constant threat of indiscriminate violence against innocent civilians.”

She said that the US was “reaching out to countries in the region including Qatar, including Egypt” to try to mediate a ceasefire.

“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,” said Psaki, noting the difference in relationships between the previous Egyptian government of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and the current one of Abdel Fatah al-Sissi.