Equating the Palestinian militant group Hamas with the LeT terrorists who attacked Mumbai [Images], the White House has said both were engaged in "despicable" acts in order to achieve their "political objectives."

In a media briefing dominated by Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip following the Hamas rocket attacks on the Jewish state, the White House spokesperson Dana Perino [Images] was asked if there were differences "between Hamas terrorists and the terrorists, who are attacking out from Pakistan against India".

"Obviously, they're two different groups," Perino said. "But I think at their base level they are despicable, evil human beings who use violence and murder in order to achieve political objectives," Perino said.

 "So, in that regard, they are the same," she said in her reply yesterday.