U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed on Sunday to expand the role of Washington in the Mideast peace process to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but some Palestinian analysts envisaged a pessimistic prospect.

Rice, who kicked off her visit to the region on Saturday, was busy with meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and reiterated the U.S. commitment to playing a deeper and more important role in the future.

Ashraf Ajrami, a Palestinian analyst in Gaza, pointed to the influence of the United States in the region but was doubtful of any positive results.

"We believe that the U.S. role in the Middle East is very important to help the two sides reach a permanent agreement that ends the conflict and leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to live side by side in peace with Israel," Ajrami said.

But, he said that the U.S. efforts may not succeed in helping the two sides out of conflict amid complications and huge differences between Israel and the Palestinians and even among the Palestinians themselves.

After a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday, Rice said that the United States was completely sticking to the roadmap peace plan to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She said that she was visiting the Middle East in an effort to improve the Israeli-Palestinian relations and show the people of Palestine how to establish statehood for them.

Rice's visit to the region was seen as part of U.S. efforts to shore up Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas.

Ahead of Rice's visit, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya claimed that Israel and the United States were trying to fan flames of a Palestinian civil war.

Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad slammed Rice's tour, saying that the U.S. policy of backing Abbas and ignoring Hamas "is doomed to fail because the Palestinian people are not bought with money, and no one believes that trying to lure some (Palestinians) will lead to results."

"American policy has not changed for a long time, and it attempts to create rifts between the parties," he added.

Fighting between loyalists to Abbas and supporters for Hamas has repeatedly erupted in the Gaza Strip in recent months.

Observers say that even if Rice succeeds in helping Abbas resume peace negotiations with Israel to implement the roadmap peace plan, Abbas is still facing a severe internal situation, mainly between the presidency and the Hamas-led government.

"The question is whether Abbas would manage to form a coalition with Hamas, a coalition that recognizes the state of Israel, honors signed agreements and condemns violence," said Hani Habib, another Palestinian analyst from Gaza.

He said that if Abbas manages to agree with Hamas on forming a national unity government accepted by the United States and the rest of the world, "Abbas then would be able to get back to the negotiating table and resume the stalled peace process."

Hamas, which won the legislative elections last January, is still controlling the parliament and the government.

The movement still rejects three key demands of the international quartet, namely, recognizing Israel, denouncing violence and accepting previous peace accords.

The quartet, grouping the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, has been a major mediator between the Palestinians and Israel.

During his meeting with Rice, Abbas said that any national unity government should be committed to the Arab peace initiative and honor international resolutions.

But, Hamas reiterated that the movement and the government it leads would never recognize the state of Israel.

Source: Xinhua