The President-Elect has been absent in Hawaii with his family and has not issued a public comment on the latest Middle East flare-up.

His chief campaign strategist and incoming White House advisor David Alexrod though did weigh in on the Israeli air attack against Gaza that has so far killed more than 275 Palestinians.

Appearing on CBS’ Face The Nation, Alexrod proceeded his remarks on what Obama thought about the conflict by stating it would be improper for the PE to comment for the United States, as Obama has previously stated, has one president at a time. He then added that Obama is closely watching the on-going conflict and has discussed it with Secretary Rice and his own soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Without committing Obama to any strong positions, Alexrod told FTN host Bob Schieffer that Obama understood why Israel needed to respond to Hamas given the rocket fire that Hamas has launched on Israel. He reminded the host that Obama had visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a victim of rocket fire, and expressed his sympathy for the people and opposition to Hamas’ actions: “He said then that when bombs are raining down on your citizens, there is an urge to respond and act to try to put an end to that. That’s what he said then. I think that’s what he believes.”

Alexrod reaffirmed Obama’s public commitment toward the “special relationship between the United States and Israel.”

He added that Obama wants peace between both sides, but Alexrod laid the blame of the conflict at the steps of Hamas: “[Obama] wants to be constructive force in helping to bring about the peace and security that both Israelis and Palestinians want and deserve. And obviously this situation has become even more complicated in the last couple of days and weeks as Hamas began its shelling [and] Israel responded.”