"The purpose of her trip is to move forward the international efforts to create a cease-fire in Gaza," said a State Department official, who spoke on condition he not be named.
Rice planned to leave Washington for New York later on Tuesday to meet Arab ministers and other allies and consult with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ( pictured with Rice during her last trip to the West Bank) during her overnight trip.
The top U.S. diplomat will also meet the foreign minister of Turkey, who has been among the leading players working for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, which launched a ground offensive into Gaza last weekend.
In addition, Rice will attend a U.N. Security Council meeting set for 5 p.m. EST (10 p.m. British time), the department official said.
While Europeans and Arabs have broadly been calling for an immediate cease-fire in the latest violence, the United States has been urging a "during and sustainable" truce, which would take longer to draw up.
In the Lebanon crisis in 2006, the United States came under strong criticism for not calling for an immediate cease-fire. This was seen as giving Israel a green light to continue pounding Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Bush to leave a clean slate for Obama
President George W. Bush has been pressing Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas over the next few days as part of his effort to leave his successor a clean slate in the Middle East.
"The president wants to clear his desk so that his successor does not enter office in middle of a crisis," a US official said.
Officials said the United States has drafted a ceasefire resolution for the United Nations Security Council that called for international monitors. Under the resolution, they said, Hamas would end missile and rocket fire and Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Tags: Condoleezza Rice, Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Palestinians, source: Reuters
