By Sue Pleming
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice came away from a meeting with PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday without any publiccommitment to resume peace talks he froze over Israel's Gazaoffensive.
"We look forward to the resumption of those negotiations assoon as possible," she told a joint news conference with Abbasin the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Rice gave no sign she secured his agreement to return totalks he suspended on Sunday in protest at an Israeli operationin the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip that killed more than 120Palestinians. Medical workers said about half were civilians.
Israel ended the operation on Monday, five days after itbegan, and threatened to send its forces back in ifcross-border rocket attacks continued.
U.S. officials said Rice pressed Abbas at their meeting onthe issue of restarting talks. At the news conference, hesidestepped a question on when they might get under way.
"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 their resumption.
Washington hopes a deal on Palestinian statehood can bereached before President George W. Bush leaves office inJanuary.
"I still believe that can be done," said Rice, who was dueto meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later in the day andhold further talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials onWednesday before leaving the region.
Condemning the Gaza operation and also urging an end torocket salvoes that have disrupted life in southern Israel,Abbas said he wanted a complete truce in the Gaza Strip and inthe occupied West Bank.
A ceasefire, he said, could help "achieve our objective ofmaking 2008 a year for peace".
Islamist Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip fromAbbas's Fatah faction in fighting last June, said he should befocusing instead on Israel's "aggression against our people andnot equating the victim with the slaughterer".
ROAD MAP
Rice, who has accusing Hamas of trying to wreck chances forpeace, said Israel had a right to defend itself against rocketattacks but needed to do its utmost to ensure innocentPalestinians were not harmed.
Abbas said 20 children had been among dozens of civilianskilled in the Gaza operation, Israel's most powerful thrustinto the territory since it withdrew settlers and its army in2005 after 38 years of occupation.
"No one can justify the killing actions of the Israeli armyover the past few days," he said.
Israel says Hamas bears responsibility for civilian deathsbecause its gunmen launch rockets from heavily populated areas.
Both Rice and Abbas cited the importance of a U.S.-backed"road map" to the peace process.
Under the 2003 plan, Israel was to halt all settlementactivity in the West Bank and Palestinians were to crack downon militants.
"There could be improvement on road map obligations on bothsides and this is what I will be stressing in talks," Ricesaid.
Before flying to Israel, Rice said during talks in Cairothat only negotiations between Israel and the PalestinianAuthority could lead to lasting peace.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Writingby Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Stephen Weeks)
