Gaza ground operation up to Israel: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israel must decide for itself whether to go into the Gaza Strip with ground forces, the White House said on Friday, but it cautioned any actions should avoid civilian casualties and ensure the flow of humanitarian goods.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe did not directly answer questions about whether the United States thought a ground operation was justifiable or had sought to prevent such an attack.

"I don't want to speak to an operation that has not taken place ... Those will be decisions made by the Israelis," he told reporters.

"Any actions they take in this overall operation that they are involved in right now need to avoid civilian casualties, and we also need to continue the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza," he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been in regular contact with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and have reminded the Israelis of this need, Johndroe said.

"So I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," he said.

Rice told reporters after meeting Bush that the United States was working toward a "durable and sustainable" ceasefire in Gaza, but that she had no plans at this point to travel to the Middle East to try to broker one.

"We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza," Rice said.

There was no sign of a ceasefire on the seventh day of the conflict, in which Israeli air strikes have killed at least 424 Palestinians and wounded 2,000. Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rockets.

"It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable," Rice said, noting that Hamas had rejected Arab calls for an extension of a ceasefire that ended last month.

It was just as easy for Rice to "keep working the phones" rather than travel to the region right now, Johndroe said.

He cited an Israeli report that Hamas was hoarding supplies to create the impression of a humanitarian crisis, but he said he could not confirm the report.

On Friday, Israel pressed on with more than 30 air strikes, one of which killed three Palestinian children aged between 8 and 12 as they played on a Gaza street.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; editing by David Alexander and Mohammad Zargham)