The United States on Monday urged both Israelis and Palestinians to stay calm and be free from violence after the hostilities spilled over again on Friday after a bomb killed 18 people at a rally held in Gaza by the Islamist group Hamas.

"We have, over the weekend, been in touch with both sides, with Israeli officials, with Palestinian officials," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We have urged all to help maintain an atmosphere of calm, free from violence."

McCormack made the remarks after Israel launched more air strikes in Gaza early Monday, bombing a field used as a launch site by militants who fired dozens of rockets into Israel over the weekend.

Referring to Hamas' pledge on Sunday that it would halt rocket attacks from Gaza, McCormack said, "Our views about Hamas as a terrorist organization are well known and unchanged."

"And I would note that, before making this statement, they launched the rocket attack in which several missiles landed in Israel and injured a number of people."

McCormack said the United States understood the Jewish state's right to defend itself.

"But, in taking actions to defend itself, we ask Israel to consider the effect that its actions may have on reaching the overall goal that all share of achieving two states living side-by-side in peace and security," McCormack added.

Source: Xinhua