In Washington, President Bush addressed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to the Middle East and continued to dismiss calls for a ceasefire.

• President Bush: “So Condi goes [to the Middle East] with the following messages: We support the [Lebanese] government; we care about the people; we will help to get aid to the people; and that we want a sustainable cease-fire. We don’t want something that’s short-term in duration. We want to address the root causes of the violence in the area, and therefore, our mission and our goal is to have a lasting peace — not a temporary peace, but something that lasts.”