Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues her Mideast tour with stops in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Rice is pushing for new talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that exclude the democratically elected Hamas government. On Wednesday, Rice said the Bush administration would continue to isolate Hamas but denied worsening the humanitarian crisis in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “We are not going to abandon the people of Gaza to Hamas. In fact, our efforts to make certain that humanitarian assistance can get to Gaza will continue and, as need be, intensify, because we know that there are a lot of innocent Palestinians who are living in Gaza under these conditions.”