GEORGE W Bush renewed his support for Israel's military operations in Gaza yesterday, saying it had the right to defend its citizens from Hamas rocket attacks. However, he also called for a lasting ceasefire that includes the disarming of militants.

In his final news conference before leaving office next week, Mr Bush said Israel should do what it could to prevent civilian casualties, but again laid blame for the violence squarely on Hamas and countries that supplied it with weapons. He did not identify those countries, but was clearly referring to Iran, which he said "is still dangerous".

Reflecting on his presidency, he said "not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment". The accusation was Bush's main initial justification for going to war in Iraq.

He said he realised that some issues, such as the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had created controversy, but defended his actions after the 9/11 attacks.

He listed the handling of prisoners in Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail among the failures of his second term. Pictures emerged showing US soldiers abusing detainees in prison.

At Westminster yesterday, Israeli leaders were condemned as "mass murderers and war criminals" for the Gaza bombardment. In a heated Commons debate, MPs urged the UK Government to kick out Israel's ambassador in London, withdraw Britain's from Tel Aviv, stop providing arms to the administration of Ehud Olmert and support economic sanctions against Israel.

However, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "We do not believe the isolation of Israel is the way to achieve influence."

As the Israeli army moved into what it said was an "end game" in Gaza, Egypt's state-owned news agency reported progress in truce talks with Hamas. Mideast envoy Tony Blair was in Cairo yesterday, meeting Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, after talks with Israeli leaders on Sunday.

Click here to comment on this story...