US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has added stops in Israel and the West Bank during her trip to the Middle East next week to attend a Palestinian donors' conference in Egypt, the State Department said Thursday.
On her first trip to the region, Clinton is due to arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh for Monday's conference to raise money for rebuilding the Gaza Strip following the Israeli assault on Hamas, dpa reported.
She will then head to Israel and the West Bank before travelling to Belgium, Switzerland and Turkey during the trip that runs until March 7. The special US envoy for the Middle East, George Mitchell, will also be in the Middle East.
Clinton has not unveiled how much money the United States intends to pledge at the conference, but a US official has said it will be a "substantial" amount for rebuilding Hamas.
Any amount the US gives to the Palestinians in Gaza will be routed through the United Nations or other international organizations because Hamas, regarded by Washington as a terrorist organization, controls Gaza. The money could also go through the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
Clinton will attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels ahead of the alliance's upcoming summit, and in Geneva will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to explore resuming negotations to reduce nuclear stockpiles.
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