Rice to push resumption of peace talks

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 4 (UPI) -- Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that peace talks with Israel will remain on hold until Israeli halts its attacks on Gaza.

At a news conference after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abbas said he hopes to resume negotiations, The Washington Post reported.

Rice suggested that breaking off talks is a victory for those opposed to the peace process. She urged Israel to "make a very strong effort to spare innocent life."

More than 100 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in the past week.

In Cairo, earlier in the day, Rice said she will push to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks suspended due to recent violence in Gaza.

Rice was in Cairo as part of a Middle East visit before attending NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels, CNN reported.

"There needs to be a stop to the rockets," Rice said during an earlier news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. "There needs to be an awareness of what is happening to innocent civilians and an effort to prevent innocent people from being harmed."

Rice said Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israeli cities and Israelis must be concerned about civilians in Gaza, the Post reported.

Rice didn't discuss an Egyptian-brokered proposal that includes includes an Israeli-Hamas cease-fire, Palestinian control -- and European monitoring -- of a border crossing into Gaza and the return of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for nearly two years.