Obama:`We Are Fully Supportive of Israel’s Right to Defend Itself’

BANGKOK, Thailand — President Obama today fully backed Israel’s right to defend itself and warned that the escalating violence in the Middle East threatens the prospect for a lasting peace process.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Obama called for an end to the firing of missiles into Israel by militants inside Gaza, saying “there is no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.”
The president cautioned that any ground offensive could lead to greater Israeli casualties.
“Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory,” he said. “If that can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in Gaza, that’s preferable. That’s not just preferable for the people in Gaza, it’s also preferable for the Israelis because if Israeli troops are in Gaza they are much more at risk of incurring fatalities or being wounded.” [link to abcnews.go.com]