Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will insist U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice exert pressure on Israel to stop settlement construction during her visit that began Saturday, an aide to Abbas said.
Also Saturday, senior Hamas officials traveled to Cairo in the latest leg of intense Egyptian efforts to squeeze a cease-fire out of Israel and the Islamic rulers of the Gaza Strip. The violence there has overshadowed peace talks between Israel and Abbas' West Bank administration that were renewed late last year.
As Rice arrived in Israel late Saturday, she appeared more exasperated with the Israeli construction than she has in past condemnations. Israeli announcements of building plans have often come just before or after her visits in the past year and a half of her peace mission.
"Unfortunately there have been a few whether I'm coming or not," Rice told reporters on her plane. Her clipped tone and arched brows revealed annoyance. "Look, it's a problem, and it's a problem that we're going to address with the Israelis," she said.
Rice was slated on Sunday to hold separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and a trilateral meeting with negotiators from both sides. The visit is part of the intense U.S. effort to prod the sides toward a final peace agreement by the end of the year.
But that deadline meant to coincide with the end of U.S. President George W. Bush's term has appeared increasingly unrealistic of late with little visible progress in the negotiations. Officials on both sides say privately they are pessimistic about the prospects of reaching an agreement meant to establish a Palestinian state.
The negotiations have been bogged down by continued Israeli construction in areas Palestinians claim and Israeli security concerns that have kept in place most West Bank military checkpoints that hamper Palestinian travel.
On Friday, Israel's Interior Ministry announced plans to build 1,300 homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, angering Palestinians who want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem.
Israel does not consider east Jerusalem construction a violation of its pledge in peace talks _ in the 2003 roadmap peace plan _ to stop settlement activity since it annexed the sector of the city soon after capturing it in 1967.
"Everyone understands in any final status agreement the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem will remain part of Israel," government spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday. "Building in those Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem is in no way contradictory to the peace process."
Rice disagreed.
"This is obviously a roadmap obligation that is not being met," she said about construction in Jerusalem.
Palestinians temporarily called off peace talks earlier this year over the Israeli plans to build homes in east Jerusalem. Israel has since peace talks were reopened announced it will build more than 3,000 housing units there. On Saturday, Palestinians said Abbas would raise the latest announcement with Rice in a meeting Sunday.
"Especially the issue of the new settlement units will be discussed," Abbas aide Nimr Hamad said. "The United States should exert real pressure on Israel and not just make statements. That's what we'll ask for from Secretary Rice."
Rice also said Israel has not fully honored its pledge to make practical improvements in the daily lives of West Bank Palestinians, especially regarding the checkpoints. There have been a few small success stories, she said.
"But it's not enough, and there certainly and clearly needs to be more," she said. "I understand the security considerations as well as anyone but the obligation was undertaken to improve the lives of the Palestinians, and we're going to have to work very hard if we're going to make that true in a broader sense."
The peace talks would most definitely be threatened by any broad Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, which officials have said is inevitable if the truce efforts fail.
Senior Hamas officials from Syria and Gaza traveled Saturday to Cairo where they were slated to meet the key mediator, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Hamas said.
Israel has dropped one of its key demands in the talks _ progress in talks for the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas, an Egyptian security official said Saturday on condition of anonymity due to the secret nature of the mediation. Israeli envoy to Egypt Amos Gilad did not explicitly deny that Saturday when asked on Israel Radio.
The mediation has been hampered by ongoing violence, with Hamas refusing to stop almost-daily rocket attacks from Gaza and Israel launching frequent air strikes and land raids.
Israel has also demanded in the talks that Hamas and Egypt stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Hamas wants Israel to lift a blockade of Gaza that has virtually imprisoned most of the territory's 1.4 million residents and caused widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and commercial goods. The restrictions were imposed soon after Hamas violently seized control of the area from forces allied with Abbas in June last year.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel on Saturday against any broad operation in Gaza, saying "Gaza will not be a picnic" for Israeli troops.
Officials close to Abbas in Gaza said Saturday that three senior officials from Abbas' Fatah movement would visit Gaza in the coming days to shore up support among his backers for talks with Hamas. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity since an official announcement of the visit had not been made yet.
Such a visit would be the first of such senior Fatah officials to Gaza since Hamas took over.
In an apparent effort to make some sort of amends with Hamas, Abbas had earlier this month said he would be willing to hold talks with the Islamic group through Arab mediators.
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Anne Gearan contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, Ibrahim Barzak from Gaza City and Dalia Nammari from Ramallah
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