US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a meeting with Palestinian leaders who are hoping that she can pressure Israel to open Gaza's borders and stop settlement activity so that stalled peace talks can again resume.

She held talks with Western-backed President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank's political capital of Ramallah a day after huddling with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem.

During a visit to a Ramallah school, Clinton reiterated Washington's commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state.

"The US is committed to a two-state solution," she said. "We will work immediately to help solve these problems and I'm very committed to that."

The Palestinians want Clinton to press Israel to open border crossings into Hamas-run Gaza, stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and rescind eviction orders in annexed east Jerusalem, officials said.

"Any Israeli government that will be formed must accept the two-state solution, all agreements signed and stop settlement activity," senior negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

"Border crossings must be opened into Gaza ... and eviction orders for (the east Jerusalem neighbourhoods of) Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah must be stopped."

In addition, he said Israel must scrap the so-called E-1 project, which would link the Maale Adumim settlement and surroundings to Jerusalem, effectively cutting the West Bank in two.

US has had strained relations

On her first visit to the region since her appointment by US President Barack Obama, Clinton announced she was sending two envoys to Syria and vowed to pursue a comprehensive peace plan while stressing that Israel could count on continued support from its staunchest ally.

Two members of her delegation — Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro — are expected to travel to Syria at the end of the week, in what will be highest level contacts since January 2005. For years, the United States has had strained relations with Syria, a longtime foe of the Jewish state.

In her meetings with Israeli leaders, Clinton underscored the US commitment to creating a viable Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel. The first step is to have durable ceasefire in Gaza, she said, adding that this "can only be achieved if Hamas ceases the rocket attacks."

Rocket attacks by Gaza militants and raids by Israeli forces have continued since the 18 January end of a 22-military offensive that killed more than 1300 Palestinians in the impoverished territory.

Early on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes launched two new raids on smuggling tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt without causing casualties, witnesses said.

An army spokesperson confirmed the bombings, saying three tunnels had been attacked and "secondary explosions took place in one of them, indicating the presence of explosives."

Before her trip to Israel and the West Bank, Clinton attended a conference in Egypt on the post-war reconstruction of Gaza, for which international donors pledged 4.5 billion dollars.

Obama vowed to pursue peace

Her visit comes when relations between the US and Israel are in a flux.

While Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue Middle East peace, presumptive Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely preside over a narrow right-wing coalition that is opposed to a Palestinian state.

As premier in 1996, Netanyahu put the brakes on the Oslo peace process. He has said he will now focus on building up the Palestinian economy instead of immediately pushing for a final settlement.

The peace talks were revived in Annapolis in November 2007 but made little progress and were frozen when the Gaza war broke out.

Obama has nevertheless vowed to actively pursue peace and has appointed a special envoy, veteran diplomat George Mitchell, to coax both sides back to the negotiating table.

In their discussions, Israeli leaders focused instead on Iran and its nuclear programme, which the Jewish state considers its main threat.

"It is not an Israeli problem, it is a world problem," President Shimon Peres said after talks with Clinton.

Clinton said there was a shared understanding about the threat.

"When we talk about engagement with Iran do not be in any way confused. Our goal remains the same ... to dissuade and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and funding terror," she said.

AFP