WASHINGTON — President Bush will make his first trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank next month to push Israel and the Palestinians toward peace.
On a nine-day trip beginning Jan. 8, Bush plans to stop in Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It will be Bush’s first presidential visit to each of the countries, except Egypt.
The trip is aimed at helping Israelis and Palestinians gain traction in talks that got under way earlier this month. It remained unclear whether he would engage in detailed peace negotiations.
In Jerusalem, Bush will meet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and in the West Bank he will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. No three-way meeting is planned.
He will not meet with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip in elections in June. That split the Palestinian territory in two — the Gaza Strip run by Hamas and the West Bank controlled by Abbas.
Also Tuesday, Olmert pledged that Israel will keep striking the leaders of groups that launch rockets toward the country from the Gaza Strip,
The announcement came after an hours-long aerial assault killed 12 militants including the commander of the extremist group Islamic Jihad.
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