White House calls for Gaza cease-fire

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The White House Tuesday called for a "durable and lasting" cease-fire in the Gaza conflict.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Bush administration wants to help lasting security in the troubled region.

"We want to get to a durable and lasting cease-fire as soon as possible and if that is immediate, we certainly welcome that," Perino said.

She added that there are three elements to what the Bush administration is looking for in a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza. Israel has been attacking Gaza for 11 days after rocket attacks from Gaza killed Israelis.

"We want the rocket attacks from Hamas into Israel to stop. We want the smuggling to stop -- this is in regards to the tunnels. And we want to return to the open border crossing in the way that we had in the ... 2005 access agreement," Perino told reporters.