U.S. urges easing Israeli cordon

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States has told Israel it favors opening some of Gaza's border crossings to commercial as well as humanitarian supplies in a move that could ease an Israeli-led blockade of the Hamas-run territory.

Aid groups said in a report released on Thursday that the blockade of the Gaza Strip has created the worst humanitarian crisis since the Israeli occupation began in 1967, a charge Israel dismissed as exaggerated.

A senior U.S. official in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the aid groups: "I don't really challenge their conclusion that it's worse than they've seen it before."

Israel closed its border crossings with Gaza to all but humanitarian supplies in June as part of a U.S.-backed strategy to isolate Hamas after it routed rival Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Islamist group also stepped up rocket attacks on Israel, which on Monday ended a five-day Gaza offensive that killed more than 120 Palestinians in a declared bid to curb the strikes.

Speaking after a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. official said Washington's main objective was to "calm the situation" in Gaza. Abbas said doing so was key to advancing U.S.-backed peace talks.

"But it's important that we move beyond that as well, and begin to look at issues like the crossing points," said the U.S. official.

"We would like to see a situation where Gaza is not entirely a humanitarian problem and that there can be some commercial activity as well, so that the people can support themselves. And that will require a conversation about how to reopen some of these crossing points," the official said.