US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Israel to not to seal the Gaza Strip after it completes its withdrawal from the Palestinian territory planned for next month.
After a hastily arranged meeting yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon amid concern that the shaky truce in the region could unravel, Ms Rice today repeated praise for Palestinian Authority efforts to curb violence against Israelis.
She said, however, that more needed to be done after meeting a Palestinian delegation in the West Bank led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
"When the Israelis withdraw from Gaza, it cannot be sealed or isolated ... with the Palestinian people closed in after the withdrawal," Ms Rice told a news conference.
"We are committed to connectivity between Gaza and the West Bank and we are committed to openness and freedom of movement for the Palestinian people," she said.
Israel has said it will keep control of Gaza's air and sea space for security reasons, though troops are expected to leave the border with Egypt. There is no Israeli agreement yet on how the Gaza Strip and West Bank might be linked.
The United States sees Israel's withdrawal from the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of the 120 in the West Bank as a step toward reviving talks on the internationally backed "road map" for a Palestinian state and broader peace in the Middle East.
Ms Rice's visit followed the worst outbreak of violence since the two sides agreed to a cease-fire in February.