U.S., Israel ink arms deterrent memorandum

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The United States and Israel Friday signed a memorandum of understanding designed to help prevent the flow of arms to terrorists in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in one of her last official acts, signed the document with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Washington as the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas continued, the State Department said. The memorandum contains political commitments on steps the two countries will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza.

Before the signing, Rice said the memorandum "should be thought of as one of the elements of trying to help bring into being a durable ceasefire that can actually hold."

The United States is committed to "bringing peace and security to Israel and its citizens and to Israel's Palestinian neighbors," the department said. "This MOU underscores our support for efforts to reach a durable and sustainable end to the hostilities in Gaza. It is a first step towards an end to rocket attacks and threats directed against Israel from Gaza."

The memorandum also lays the foundation for beefing up existing programs and exploring cooperative arrangements in the Middle East to combat weapons smuggling, the department said.

"There must be an international consensus that Gaza will never again be used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens," the department said. "The sooner we can bring the current hostilities to an end, the sooner the real work in forging a permanent peace can resume."