Palestinian leaders were urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday to push Israel to freeze construction in West Bank settlements and open blockaded Gaza Strip borders. Clinton arrived in the West Bank under heavy security Wednesday, meeting first with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and then with President Mahmoud Abbas. She repeated that the U.S. was committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and she praised Fayyad's plan for rebuilding Gaza. Fayyad's government outlined the plan Monday at an international donors' conference for the territory, which was heavily damaged in a recent Israeli military offensive. Donors raised $5.2 billion for Gaza and Fayyad's government, with the U.S. pledging $900 million, according to a report of Associated Press.
