(Adds more details on Egypt meetings, new quotes)

By Sue Pleming and Aziz el-Kaissouni

CAIRO, March 4 (Reuters) - Egypt called on Tuesday for a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza but the United States said only negotiations between Israel and the Palestian Authority could lead to lasting peace.

In talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Cairo, differences also appeared in their approach to Hamas and to the way Israel has conducted its recent offensive in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 125 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

But the two sides did agree that Hamas should stop its rocket attacks on Israel and end other military activities.

Rice, with little to show for years of Middle East diplomacy so far, arrived in the region on Tuesday to try to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to quickly resume U.S.-sponsored peace talks suspended over the Israeli offensive.

She stopped in Egypt for a few hours for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the fighting, as well as on Lebanon, Iraq and the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a joint news conference: "We are trying to reach a ceasefire and a period of calm ... We are trying to persuade the Israelis not to use this excessive force and this disproportionality in the use of force. That must stop."

Rice said Hamas should end its rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel had the right to defend itself but should take account of the effects its attacks might have on Palestinian civilians and on the prospects for peace talks.

CALL FOR NEGOTIATIONS

Hamas has offered a long-term truce with Israel, saying it would stop its rocket attacks in exchange for an end to Israeli attacks on Hamas personnel and an end to the long blockade of Gaza, which has continued with little relief since last June.

Rice said the United States was sensitive to the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza. But she added: "It is just our very strong view that the only way that we will in the long term be able to provide for peace and dignity for the Palestinian people and for peace and security for the Israeli people is if we establish two states living side by side."

"That can only be done through negotiations ... So, yes, we will work for the resumption of the negotiations as quickly as possible," she added.

The negotiations are with Palestinians loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who has had no control over Gaza since Hamas drove them out of the narrow coastal strip in June.

Abbas suspended the talks with Israel this week in response to public pressure after the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

On the role Hamas could play, Aboul Gheit said: "We have to admit Hamas is part of the Palestinian equation and Hamas will have to be tackled (dealt) with, meaning that down the road, as we make progress, it will be a must that Hamas will have to be convinced to come on board, if they would mend their ways."

But Rice portrayed Hamas as spoilers and said that the movement was actively working against a Palestinian state.

Asked about reports that the United States armed the Palestinian Authority last year as part of a joint plan to attack Hamas, she said: "It is very clear that Hamas is being armed in part by the Iranians.

"If Hamas is being armed by the Iranians and nobody helps to improve the security capabilities of the legitimate Palestinian security forces, that's not a very good situation." (Editing by Keith Weir)

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