U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on the Palestinians and Israel to resume peace talks, on the eve of her latest Middle East visit. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas broke off talks in protest at Israel's recent offensive in Gaza, which has left more than 100 Palestinians dead.

Heading for two days of talks in the West Bank, Israel and Egypt, Rice said a peace deal was still possible.
Israel has pulled its troops out of Gaza, but has warned of fresh action.
Israeli forces entered Gaza after rocket attacks launched from there against Israel by Palestinian militants.
Three Israelis have died in recent days - a civilian killed by a rocket and two soldiers in the Gaza clashes.
Rice said that despite the recent violence, a deal to end the conflict was still possible before U.S. President George W Bush left office next January.
Speaking to reporters at a refueling stop in Brussels, she said she would raise with Israel the ""loss of innocent life"" in its recent raid.
She added: ""I continue to believe that they can get to a deal by the end of the year if everyone's got the will to do it.""
Rice defined a deal as a framework for an eventual Palestinian state, not a final agreement that resolved all the issues between both sides.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says Rice's trip was planned a few weeks ago and was meant to move peace talks forward, after a commitment by both sides at a conference in November in the U.S.
But instead the U.S. secretary of state finds herself on a rescue mission, trying to get the two parties to talk to each other again, says our correspondent.
She adds that the recent violence has shown the limitations of the Bush administration's strategy of talking to the government of Abbas while cutting off Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas does not recognize Israel and opposes the peace process. It ousted Abbas's forces from Gaza in June, but he remains in control of Palestinian-administered parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Rice stopped in Cairo on Tuesday where she raised the issue of humanitarian aid to Gaza and concerns that weapons are still being smuggled across the border.
Later in the day she will meet Abbas at Ramallah in the West Bank, then go to Beit-ul-Moqaddas for talks with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, before leaving today.
International alarm
The Israeli prime minister has warned that the recent Gaza offensive was ""not a one-off event"".
Mr Olmert told the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee: ""Everything is possible... air strikes, ground strikes and special operations are all being discussed.""
A senior government official quoted by Reuters news agency said Israel had called a ""two-day interval"" during the US secretary of state's visit.
Medical sources say at least 112 Palestinians - including children - have been killed since Wednesday.
There has been widespread international alarm at the scale of the Israeli operation.
The European Union criticised what it called Israel's ""disproportionate use of force"" and also demanded an immediate end to Palestinian militant rocket attacks on Israel.
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem expressed concern at what it called the large number of children and other innocent civilians among those killed and wounded in the Gaza Strip.
(Source: BBC)