A continued ceasefire in Gaza is of "critical importance", Barack Obama's Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell said today, as Israeli jets bombed smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border amid the worst violence in the territory since a truce began 10 days ago.
Mitchell was heading to Israel after talks in Cairo this morning with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. Later today he will meet the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank.
"It is of critical importance that the ceasefire be extended and consolidated, and we support Egypt's continuing efforts in that regard," Mitchell told reporters after talking with Mubarak. "The United States is committed to vigorously pursuing lasting peace and stability in the region."
The former Northern Ireland peace broker's mission – which he described today as "clear and tangible evidence" of Obama's commitment to the Middle East – comes with tensions in Gaza as high as they have been since the end of the Israeli attack on the territory, in which around 1,300 Palestinians died.
People living in Rafah, by the Egyptian border, fled their homes in panic as the Israeli planes struck three times before dawn. There was no immediate news of any casualties. The attack on the tunnels, used to smuggle weapons and other goods, took place a day after an Israeli soldier was killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling the border between Gaza and Israel. Three other soldiers were injured.
Israel launched a retaliatory airstrike which killed a Palestinian man travelling on a motorbike. Israel said he was the planner of the roadside bombing, while Hamas, which controls Gaza, said only that he a Hamas member. The West Bank is run by Abbas's Fatah movement, which was expelled from Gaza by Hamas in mid-2007.
Although he will have no direct links with Hamas, Mitchell's meeting with Mubarak offered an indirect route to the group, which is classified by the US as a terrorist organisation. Egypt brokered the ceasefire and is keen to help promote a more lasting peace. After Israel and the West bank, Mitchell is to visit Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain.
Obama signalled the seriousness of his intention to engage in the search for a Middle East peace agreement by giving his first foreign interview to the al-Arabiya television channel on Monday.
"Sending George Mitchell to the Middle East is fulfilling my campaign promise that we're not going to wait until the end of my administration to deal with Palestinian and Israeli peace. We're going to start now," Obama told al-Arabiya, which is based in Dubai but is broadcast throughout most of the Middle East.
"He's going to be speaking to all the major parties involved. And he will then report back to me. From there we will formulate a specific response," Obama said.
The Obama administration appears intent on trying to help the Palestinians while at the same time being seen not to abandon its traditional support for Israel. The new US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, reassuring Israelis, today backed Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
"We support Israel's right to self-defence. The [Palestinian] rocket barrages which are getting closer and closer to populated areas [in Israel] cannot go unanswered," Clinton said in her first news conference at the state department.
She added: "It is regrettable that the Hamas leadership apparently believes that it is in their interest to provoke the right of self-defence instead of building a better future for the people of Gaza."
Hamas has not claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing, but described it as "a natural response" to Israeli policies.
The Israeli military said it saw Hamas as "accountable for preserving the peace in Israel's southern villages and will respond harshly to any attempt of undermining it".