Forget the father of four who was killed after months and months of Palestinian rockets launched at Israeli civilians. The Secretary Of State is keeping her eyes on the ball:

Her comments came after she met for an hour with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a visit to Japan. "I am concerned about the humanitarian conditions there and innocent people in Gaza who are being hurt," Rice told reporters following her meeting with Olmert. "We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza - the illegal coup that they led against the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian Authority," she added. "It is very clear where this started."

And just to head off any possible "disproportionate Israeli response" to the murder of Israeli citizens and the constant bombing of Israeli cities, she's rushing to Israel next week. This will effectively keep Olmert in a holding pattern until he can't directly respond to today's atrocities. He can't mobilize a massive response and do what every leader in the world would do, because she's coming to the country on a peace mission. And you wouldn't want to ruin that:

Over 40 rockets were fired by Palestinian groups from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel on Wednesday afternoon. During one of the barrages an Israeli college student was killed after a rocket landed in a parking lot adjacent to the Sapir College campus. Medics alerted to the scene also treated two more Israelis for minor wounds. The victim, Roni Yechiah, 47, reportedly died shortly after sustaining massive wounds to his chest.

No worries. The State Department's spokespeople are all over this - although they're very worried that Bush's vaunted 2008 peace deadline will get missed. Because that's the problem.

References:
* Rice: Hamas rocket attacks against Israel 'need to stop' [JPost]
* Rice heads to Israel next week amid Gaza violence [Ha'aretz]
* 47-year-old man killed in Qassam attack [YNet]

Previously:
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* US State Department Has Been Funding Hamas Terrorists For Years. No Kidding.
* It's Official: State Department Positions More Anti-Israel Than What Palestinians Demand