WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday was briefed by his security adviser on the latest situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel's military strike against Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has killed some 280 people and wounded 700 others.

    The president, who is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for Christmas vacation, "spoke by phone with National Security Advisor Steve Hadley this morning to receive an update on the situation in Israel and Gaza," said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Sunday.

    The president will be kept updated as events warrant and will get the latest on the crisis at the daily intelligence briefing on Monday morning, Johndroe said in a statement.

    Israel's army forces' air strike targeted Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, which is on the second day, has killed some 280 Palestinians, including 180 Hamas security personnel, and wounded some 700 others, reports here quoted Palestinian officials as saying.

    Bush has been paying close attention to the situation in the Gaza Strip, mostly by Hadley's brief, but has given no comment on Israel's strike, which was said by the government led by Ehud Olmert as a response to escalating Hamas rocket attacks against southern Israel.

    During an interview with CBS on Sunday, David Axelrod, senior aide to President-elect Barrack Obama said only one president "can speak for America" on the fresh violence between Israel and the Palestinians, adding "That president now is George W. Bush."

    Obama on Saturday spoke with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the Israel's strike against Hamas, CNN quoted a senior aide to Obaba as saying that the president-elect, who will inaugurate on January 20, "will continue to closely monitor" the Gaza violence.

    "I think he wants to get a handle on the situation, so that, when he becomes president on January 20, he has the advantage of all the facts and information leading up to that point," Axelrod said, adding that the president-elect will work closely with Israel and the Palestinians toward peace.

    Obama has pledged to make Middle East peace a priority from the beginning of his presidency.

    Ahead of her phone talk with Obama, Rice said in a statement that the United States "strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza."

    "The cease-fire should be restored immediately," she added. "The United States calls on all concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza."

    Regardless of the international call for immediate halt to the Gaza violence, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday at the cabinet meeting that the operation against Hamas "is liable to continue for some time, perhaps more than can be foreseen at the present time."

    Israel's ground troops and tanks have been deployed around the Gaza Strip. And meanwhile, as a move preparing for a possible massive attack, Israel's army announced on Sunday that it will call up to 6,700 reservists to duty.