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Last update - 22:19 27/02/2008 Rice heads to Israel next week amid Gaza violence By The Associated Press Tags: peace process  U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week in a bid to push along U.S.-brokered peace talks complicated by mounting violence in Gaza. State Department spokesman Tom Casey announced the trip on Wednesday and said Rice would leave on March 3 for meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She will then visit Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting before going home on March 7. "This is part of the follow-up to the Annapolis process. I am sure she will get a good sense there from both parties on the state of play of their discussions and negotiations," Casey told reporters. Advertisement Rice was also due to meet Olmert on Thursday in Tokyo where both of them are currently visiting. The United States officially launched peace talks last November in Annapolis, Maryland, and U.S. President George W. Bush has said he wants both sides to agree to a peace treaty by the time he leaves office in January, 2009. Rice conceded in testimony to the U.S. Congress this month that the talks had been "challenged" by the complicated situation on the ground in the Palestinian territories, where Abbas' Fatah movement controls the West Bank and the Islamist group Hamas has ruled Gaza since last June. The surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence along the border of Gaza has stoked fears both sides could be close to a full-scale conflict amid public pressure on Olmert to order tougher military action to deal with rocket attacks from Gaza. "There always are going to be things that will happen that will try and distract or sideline parts of these discussions but the important thing is that in President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert, we have two leaders who are committed to moving forward," said Casey. He said they had made a commitment to conclude a deal by the end of the year and both Abbas and Olmert continued to abide by that "ambitious timetable." But experts say the situation on the ground could torpedo U.S. efforts to get a deal. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Power to the people Egypt plans to provide all of Gaza's electricity, to wean dependency on Israel. Calculated escalation Hamas has been trying for some time to create a balance of deterrence with Israel.   1.   "Public pressure".... 22:41  |  Shalom 27/02/08   2.   Rice stay home, you are not welcomed here! 22:47  |  Avraham 27/02/08   3.   Witch hurries,lest the victims would break her spell and Qassams` 23:14  |  Absolute Sweden 27/02/08   4.   Visit Sderot 23:38  |  Jacob Levenfeld 27/02/08   5.   Rice ot israel 23:59  |  marcel 27/02/08   6.   RICE ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND A FEW NIGHTS IN GAZA?? 00:04  |  Abdallah 28/02/08   7.   Panic Situation 00:20  |  Rav Harley 28/02/08   8.   Deal.. 00:46  |  Jim 28/02/08   9.   Meddling again...! 00:54  |  Yossi 28/02/08   10.   Peace defined by Islamist-Jihadists 01:29  |  Brod 28/02/08   11.   ship of fools 01:38  |  Boosha`s Poodle 28/02/08   12.   Rice should stay home 01:39  |  Brod 28/02/08   13.   Condemnation... 01:46  |  Shalom 28/02/08   14.   Same-O; Same-O 02:11  |  Yanatan 28/02/08   15.   RIce ....teleconference! 03:39  |  Jeff 28/02/08   16.   Glass Houses 07:23  |  Daniel 28/02/08   17.   ricebowl, make yourself useful please 19:05  |  frenz 28/02/08   18.   Keep her 02:57  |  dave duncan 29/02/08   19.   Is there a way forward? 23:34  |  Dan Chazan 29/02/08   20.   Waste of time 04:37  |  Nemesis 01/03/08

Today Online Barak: Hamas will pay for its escalation in the south Responses: 373 Aanalysis: Uncompromising Hamas is in trouble Responses: 202 Bradley Burston: True Islam will spell defeat for the Jihadists Responses: 68 When McCain and Obama face off, Israel may find itself in the eye of the storm Responses: 103 German Jewish leader urges Merkel to back Israel's stance on Iran Responses: 49 Rosner's Domain No "statement of interest" against terror victims (WTR) McCain, Obama gear up for face off over Iraq Battle of Ohio: from James Garfield to Hillary Clinton Poll: Your solution for the situation in Gaza Prosecutor in AIPAC case to leave before trial? (WTR) More Headlines 22:59 Ban: Hezbollah hindering talks on prisoner swap 01:54 Senior Hamas munitions expert killed in IDF strike in Gaza Strip 04:58 Hezbollah says not intimidated by U.S. warship deployment 19:38 Barak: Hamas will pay for its escalation in the south 19:55 Two people lightly wounded in Qassam barrage on Sderot 09:45 Jerusalem & Babylon / Ignoring Durban summit not an option 02:24 Abbas calls for halt to IDF strikes on Gaza, Qassam rockets 21:22 Woman who said was saved from Nazis by wolves admits fabrications 17:31 Court rejects petition against ban on Habash memorial rally 13:27 Britain's Prince Harry withdrawn from Afghanistan due to news leak Previous Editions Select Day 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb 22 feb 21 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb

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