Rice says U.S. working toward "durable" ceasefire

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is working toward a "durable and sustainable" ceasefire in Gaza, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday, but she has no plans at this point to travel to the Middle East.

"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," she told reporters after briefing President George W. Bush at the White House.

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

Rice said she had "no plans at this point" to travel to the region to try to broker an end to the violence. She and Bush had spoken with Arab, Israeli and European leaders by phone after Israel began air strikes on the strip last Saturday.

At least 424 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded in the air strikes while four Israelis have been killed by Palestinian-fired rockets.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Howard Goller, editing by David Alexander)