Bush pledges $50 million in aid for Palestinians

President George W. Bush pledged $50 million in aid for the Palestinians yesterday and urged Israel to stop settlement expansion and other activities that could prejudice negotiations on a final peace deal.

Standing with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a White House Rose Garden news conference, Mr Bush also said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah to consult with Israeli and Palestinian leaders about Israel's planned August pull-out from the Gaza Strip.

Mr Abbas, the first Palestinian President to visit Washington since peace talks collapsed in 2000, complained of Israeli settlement activity and said "time is becoming our greatest enemy".

"We must end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict before it is too late," Mr Abbas said.

Mr Bush's announcement of US aid to the Palestinians for Gaza Strip projects was a symbolic gesture of support for Mr Abbas, who has sought money to be channelled directly to the Palestinian Authority instead of through third parties.

"To help ensure that the Gaza disengagement is a success, the United States will provide the Palestinian Authority $50 million to be used for new housing and infrastructure projects in the Gaza," Mr Bush said.

The United States each year provides Israel more than $2 billion.

Washington, eager to embark on the stalled peace "road map", has welcomed Mr Abbas's vow to seek statehood by peaceful means as well as a cease-fire he declared with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in February and persuaded militants to accept.

Mr Sharon has demanded, however, that Mr Abbas do more to bring a complete halt to militant violence, which has broken out again from time to time despite the truce.

Mr Sharon is grappling with rightist protests against the planned Gaza pull-out while Palestinians worry that the unilateral withdrawal will divert attention from Israel's settlement expansions in the West Bank, while keeping the small strip of land isolated.