Obama reiterates to engage immediately on Mideast as president

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged on Sunday that he will tackle hot issues in the Middle East as soon as he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

"What I am doing right now is putting together the team so that on January 20th, starting on day one, we have the best possible people who are going to be immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process as a whole," he said in an interview with ABC News.

The team would "be engaging with all of the actors there. That will work to create a strategic approach that ensures that both Israelis and Palestinians can meet their aspirations," Obama said of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflicts in the Gaza Strip.

It was reported that nearly 900 Palestinians have been killed and some 3,500 others wounded in Israel's military strikes targeted at Hamas in the Gaza Strip since December 27, 2008.

Obama repeated that he was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Gaza. But he said that it would be imprudent of him to send any signals that his incoming administration is running foreign policy.

美国当选总统奥巴马１１日发表谈话，表示在２０日宣誓就职后会立即采取措施解决巴勒斯坦与以色列争端，推动中东和平进程。

奥巴马在接受美国广播公司采访时说，他正在组建一个专门团队，以便在就职后有最合适的人员参与中东和平进程。他表示，该团队将提出战略性建议，以确保巴以双方实现彼此的和平愿望。

奥巴马曾多次发表讲话，对当前以色列和哈马斯在加沙地区的军事冲突表示关切。但他在当天的电视访谈中拒绝就以色列大举进攻加沙发表评论。

据报道，自去年１２月２７日以色列对加沙地带实施军事打击以来，巴勒斯坦方面死亡人数已接近９００人，另有３５００人受伤。