Rice urges push on Mid-East peace

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It is time to "seize opportunities" for peace in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a visit to Israel on her regional tour.

Ms Rice met Israeli leaders including PM Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres, as Mr Olmert urged her to keep the Hamas faction "out of the game".

Ms Rice will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank.

It is her first visit to the region since Hamas seized Gaza in June.

'Sensitive issues'

At a press conference in Jerusalem with her Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Ms Rice said it was important to act in a "careful way".

Sometimes it is not wise to put the most sensitive issues first Tzipi LivniIsraeli foreign minister

"This is a time to seize opportunities and it is a time to proceed in a prepared and careful way as one does not want to miss opportunities because of a lack of preparation," Ms Rice said.

Ms Livni said Israel would not miss the chance to "promote a dialogue" with Mr Abbas and the Palestinian government.

But Ms Livni suggested Israel was not yet ready to negotiate on issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and future borders with any Palestinian state.

"Sometimes it is not wise to put the most sensitive issues first," she said.

'Security guarantees'

Later, Ms Rice held talks with Mr Olmert, who urged her to keep Hamas "out of the game" on all levels of negotiations, Israeli government spokesman David Baker said.

Since Hamas took control of Gaza, the US and Arab League have sought to isolate the Islamist militant group by offering strong support for Mr Abbas's Fatah-led emergency government.

Israel has released Palestinian prisoners and transferred millions of dollars in frozen tax receipts to the Palestinian Authority as goodwill gestures to bolster Mr Abbas.

Mr Olmert also insisted that any handover of security control in the occupied West Bank could only happen if Israel received "proper security guarantees".

During her meeting with Mr Peres, the Israeli President told Ms Rice the US was leading Israel closer than ever to the "conclusive chapter of the negotiations with the Palestinians".

Ms Rice also held talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

She was in Israel after visiting Saudi Arabia with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The Saudi foreign minister backed US plans for peace talks this year, saying the Saudis would like to attend.

Ms Rice has also visited Egypt during her tour, which aims to allay Arab fears of chaos in the region in the event of a US withdrawal from Iraq.