U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. In Gaza Israeli forces killed a Palestinian
man during a raid into the Hamas-controlled strip.

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (MAY 4, 2008) REUTERS - 

 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday (May 4) after discussions with Israeli leaders on ways
to ease restrictions on Palestinians and move peace talks forward.
    Rice travelled to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank after meeting with
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Saturday (May 3) and with
Israeli Defence MInister Ehud Barak on Sunday.
    Barak exerts great influence over the network of checkpoints and
roadblocks that Israel argues it needs in the West Bank to prevent suicide
bombings. Palestinians view the barriers as collective punishment and a blight
on their economy.
    Abbas and Olmert, who are due to meet on Monday following Rice's
departure, agreed in November to resume peace talks with the aim of reaching
an agreement by the end of this year. The peace negotiations have yet to show
tangible progress.
    After Rice's last trip in late March, Israel said it planned to remove
61 barriers in the West Bank. But a U.N. survey subsequently found that only
44 obstacles had been scrapped and that most were of little or no
significance.
    Western pressure is mounting on Olmert to do more to ease travel
restrictions and take other steps to shore up Abbas, whose authority has been
limited to the West Bank since Hamas Islamists took over the Gaza Strip in
June.
    U.S. officials are sensitive to the lack of demonstrable progress in
the talks and they hope to use a visit by U.S. President George W Bush, who
will travel to the region this month to celebrate the 60th anniversary of
Israel's founding, to nudge them along.
    Meanwhile in Gaza Israeli troops killed a Palestinian civilian in the
southern part of the Hamas-controlled isolated strip, medical workers
said.
    They said the 41-year-old man was hit by an Israeli tank shell outside
his home near the town of Khan Younis.
    An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli forces were operating in
the area but she had no immediate details about the incident.
    Dozens of Palestinians flocked to the site as Israeli military vehicles
pulled out of the area.
    Israel frequently carries out raids in the Gaza Strip which it says are
aimed at curbing rocket fire into southern Israeli towns and villages.