September 19, 2007 (LPAC) Just hours after Israel's security cabinet declared Gaza an "enemy entity," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice flew in to assure the Israelis that they had the full backing of the Bush Administration. During a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice incongruously stated that "We are hopeful that [bilateral dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians] can move forward to common understandings of a way forward to the creation of a Palestinian state, so that the that two states can live side by side in peace and freedom." When asked specifically about the Israeli declaration, Rice declared that "we will not abandon the innocent Palestinians in Gaza," but "Hamas is indeed a hostile entity. It's a hostile entity to the United States as well."

During their press conference, both Rice and Livni managed to ignore the fact that Palestinians had a free and fair election in 2006, and that, since then, the U.S., Israel and the European Union have been punishing the people of Gaza for voting the wrong way.

In a statement released on Wednesday September 19, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the Israeli Government to reconsider its decision to declare the Gaza Strip a hostile territory. He then pointedly warned the Israeli Government that cutting off vital services (i.e., electricity and natural gas) to Gaza, as Israel has threatened to do, was a violation of international humanitarian and human rights laws.