US presses Israel to make Palestinian Gaza successful: report

The Bush administration has increased pressure on the Israeli government in recent days, urging it to do more to make a Palestinian Gaza successful after Israeli settlers are pulled out later this month, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put her influence behind the two American coordinators of the withdrawal -- James Wolfensohn, who is dealing with the region's economic and civilian matters, and Lt. Gen. William Ward, who is helping to reform Palestinian security services, the report said, citing US officials.

Rice in particular has been forceful and even abrupt in her dealings with senior Israeli officials, including the foreign and defense ministers, Silvan Shalom and Shaul Mofaz, according to the report.

She has also expressed impatience with Israel's continuing requests for millions of dollars to help build modern passenger and goods terminals between Gaza and Israel. Washington has also rejected a request from Israel to help pay for the destruction of Israeli settlers' houses in Gaza, the report said.

Israeli officials have acknowledged the new pressure from Washington to resolve issues concerning Palestinians' lives in Gaza, including access, assets, security, travel, import and export of goods and people, the report added.

Meanwhile, Rice is trying to bolster the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by sending a senior adviser, James Wilkinson, on a quiet visit last week to Ramallah. Rice has also dispatched a small team to work with Abbas to reorganize his office in order to improve efficiency and accountability, the report said.

Source: Xinhua