Obama: Israel has right to defend itself

Palestinians walk through the debris after an Israeli air strike on building in Gaza City, Sunday. The Israeli military widened its range of targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to include the media operations of the Palestinian territory's Hamas rulers.

BANGKOK — President Obama says Israel has a right to defend itself from missiles being aimed at the country by militants in the Gaza Strip.

Obama says “no country on earth would tolerate missiles raining down” on its people and says any effort to resolve the conflict in Gaza “starts with no missiles being fired into Israel's territory.”

Obama's comments come as Israeli strikes hit two media centers in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as violence continues to escalate. Palestinian militants meanwhile fired at least one more long-range rocket at Tel Aviv, the fourth day in a row the city has come under fire.

The rocket was intercepted by Israel's “Iron Dome” missile defense system.

Obama spoke at a news conference Sunday in Bangkok. He's on a three-country tour of Asia.