(Adds troops kill Palestinian militant in brief raid)

By Sue Pleming and Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to win a public commitment from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to resume peace talks with Israel.

Abbas, who on Sunday suspended negotiations in protest at a five-day Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed over 120 people, urged Israel to halt military operations to create the atmosphere for peace talks.

Israeli soldiers briefly re-entered the central Gaza Strip and clashed with gunmen late on Tuesday, killing a senior Islamic Jihad militant before pulling back, ambulance workers and the army said.

Medical workers said a Palestinian infant was also killed and eight other people were wounded in the clash.

On withdrawing its troops on Monday, Israel threatened to send its forces back if cross-border rocket attacks continued.

Tuesday's raid came a day after Israeli troops withdrew from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip following a five-day campaign in which over 120 Palestinians, about half of them civilians. On a mission to salvage peace talks, Rice gave no sign she secured Abbas's agreement to return to negotiations.

Rice told a joint news conference with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah: "We look forward to the resumption of those negotiations as soon as possible."

U.S. officials said while Abbas avoided making clear when he might resume talks, they expected him to return soon, saying it was not politically feasible for him to do it now.

"We made some progress but we're not there yet," said a senior U.S. official after Rice's talks with Abbas.

However, at the news conference, Abbas was vague and sidestepped a question on when talks might get under way.

"I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression in order that we can afford the necessary atmosphere to conduct the negotiations," Abbas said, without setting any timeframe for their resumption.

The United States hopes a deal on Palestinian statehood can be reached before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. In Washington, Bush said he was "optimistic."

"Ten months is a long time. There's plenty of time to get a deal done," Bush said after White House talks with Jordan's King Abdullah.

TALKS WITH OLMERT

Israeli officials said that Rice, who later met with Ehud Olmert, told the Israeli prime minister that based on her talks with Abbas, she believes the Palestinians will renew peace talks soon. She is scheduled to hold more talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Wednesday before leaving for Brussels.

Condemning the Gaza operation and also urging an end to rocket salvoes that have disrupted life in southern Israel, Abbas said he wanted a complete truce in the Gaza Strip and in the occupied West Bank.

A ceasefire, he said, could help "achieve our objective of making 2008 a year for peace."

Islamist Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah faction in fighting last June, said he should be focusing instead on Israel's "aggression against our people and not equating the victim with the slaughterer."

Rice, who accused Hamas of trying to wreck chances for peace, said Israel had a right to defend itself against rocket fire but needed to ensure innocent Palestinians were not harmed.

Abbas said 20 children had been among dozens of civilians killed in the Gaza operation, Israel's most powerful thrust into the territory since it withdrew settlers and its army in 2005 after 38 years of occupation.

"No one can justify the killing actions of the Israeli army over the past few days," he said. Medical workers said about half the dead were civilians.

Israel says Hamas bears responsibility for civilian deaths because its gunmen launch rockets from heavily populated areas.

Rice also voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced $57 million in additional aid for the West Bank and Gaza to be channelled through the United Nations. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Sami Aboudi)

AlertNet news is provided by