By Sue Pleming
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice urged Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesdayto resume suspended peace negotiations and said she believed adeal was still possible by the end of the year.
Speaking at a news conference after meeting PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, shegave no indication, however, that she had secured his agreementto return to talks.
Abbas suspended negotiations on Sunday in protest atIsrael's offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 120Palestinians before troops left on Monday. Israel said it wouldsend forces back in if cross-border rocket attacks continued.
Abbas told the news conference he wanted a complete trucein the Gaza Strip and in the occupied West Bank, where Israelhas carried out raids against militants it says are planningattacks.
Referring to Washington's hopes that a deal on establishinga Palestinian state could be reached before President George W.Bush leaves office in January, Rice said: "I still believe thatthat can be done."
She added: "We look forward to the resumption of thosenegotiations as soon as possible."
Abbas said 20 children had been among dozens of civilianskilled in Hamas-controlled Gaza in Israel's five-day assault,its most powerful in the territory since it withdrew settlersand its army in 2005..
"I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression inorder that we can afford the necessary atmosphere to conductthe negotiations," Abbas said, without setting any timeframefor resuming the talks on statehood issues.
He added that he still aspired to a deal this year butblamed the hiatus on Israel, which says it launched its assaultto stem rocket fire by Hamas Islamists:
"No one can justify the killing actions of the Israeli armyover the past few days," said Abbas, who also called for hisHamas rivals to stop firing rockets into southern Israel.
Rice, too, demanded that Hamas, which routed Abbas'sWestern-backed forces in Gaza last year, cease the rocketsalvoes.
Before flying to Israel, Rice said during talks in Cairothat only negotiations between Israel and the PalestinianAuthority could lead to lasting peace.
Progress in the negotiations, launched at a U.S.-sponsoredconference in the U.S. city of Annapolis in November, has beenstymied by fighting and Israeli settlement building on WestBank land where Palestinians want statehood.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Editingby Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem)
