WASHINGTON
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said that U.S. president believed Turkish and Egyptian leaders could play constructive roles to establish dialogue with Hamas.
Speaking to reporters, Rhodes said that the reason U.S. President Barack Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was they had the ability to play a constructive role in engaging Hamas and encouraging a process of de-escalation.
"The President was speaking to them about steps that could be taken to bring an end to the violence. And what we would like to see is those nations like Egypt and Turkey, that maintain relations with Hamas, to help bring this to a conclusion to bring an end to the rocket fire that we've seen out of Gaza, and to allow for a de-escalation in the conflict generally," he said.
Rhodes added, "Obama also in each of his calls expressed regret for the loss of lives, including the loss of civilian life by both Palestinians and Israelis since this conflict began."
