Clinton meets Palestinian leaders in West Bank.

Summary: Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Clinton on Wednesday met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in the occupied West Bank as part of her "aggressive" diplomacy in working

Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Clinton on Wednesday met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in the occupied West Bank as part of her "aggressive" diplomacy in working towards a Palestinian state.

Clinton was later to hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. She had spent Tuesday meeting Israeli leaders in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians will urge Clinton to press Israel to open border crossings into Hamas-run Gaza, stop settlement activity in the 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 (east Jerusalem neighborhoods of) Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah must be stopped." Palestine, Syria

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

On her first visit to the region since her appointment by U.S. 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. Syria is a longtime foe of the Jewish state and U.S. relations with Damascus have been strained for years.

"There are a number of issues we have between Syria and the United States as well as the larger regional concerns that Syria obviously poses," she said after talks with outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

In her meetings with Israeli leaders, Clinton underscored the U.S. commitment to creating a viable Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel.

"It is our assessment ... that eventually, the inevitability of working toward a two-state solution is inescapable," she said.

"The first step right now ... is a durable ceasefire" in Gaza, Clinton said. "But that can only be achieved if Hamas ceases the rocket attacks."

Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, lashed out at her comments calling them "the height of bias towards the Israeli occupation."

Clinton's visit comes when relations between the U.S. and Israel are in a flux.

Opposition to a Palestinian state

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

Netanyahu said he and Clinton "agreed to meet again after a government is formed and to work in tight cooperation in order to bring security, peace and prosperity to the region."

As premier in 1996, Netanyahu put the brakes on the Oslo peace process. He 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 last December.

Obama has nevertheless vowed actively to pursue the peace process 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 program, 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.

Clinton arrived in Israel from Egypt, where she outlined her Middle East strategy at a conference on Monday on the post-war reconstruction of Gaza, for which international donors pledged $4.5 billion.

The war, which killed more than 1,330 Palestinians, destroyed thousands of homes, schools and other buildings.

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