Beirut ? President-elect Barack Obama’s silence on the eight-day-old offensive in Gaza is drawing criticism among Arabs who have grown skeptical about hopes that his administration will break with the Mideast policies of the Bush era.

Obama, who is moving to Washington this weekend, was on vacation in Hawaii when the crisis erupted and has made no statements, either about Israel’s assault on Gaza or Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel. His aides say that he does not wish to address foreign policy issues in any way that could send “confusing signals” about U.S. policy as long as President George W. Bush is in office.

“The president-elect is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza. There is one president at a time, and we intend to respect that,” Brooke Anderson, chief national security spokeswoman for the Obama transition team, said Saturday.

Arab commentators maintain, however, that Obama did comment on foreign affairs when he issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and that he has given several news conferences outlining his economic proposals. They suggest that his refusal to speak out on Gaza — where at least 460 Palestinians have died, compared with four Israeli deaths from the rockets — implies indifference to the plight of Palestinians or even complicity with Israel.

The satellite TV network Al Jazeera contrasted footage of Obama wearing shorts and playing golf in Hawaii with scenes of the carnage in Gaza, as a way of highlighting what it called “the deafening silence from the Obama team.”