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Bush launches key Mid-East tour Bush launches key Mid-East tour
(about 2 hours later)
US President George W Bush has arrived in Israel on a landmark visit to the region to try to advance peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. US President George W Bush has begun talks with Israeli leaders at the start of a visit to the Middle East aimed at advancing peace negotiations.
Mr Bush received a red carpet welcome at Tel Aviv airport, where he was greeted by the entire Israeli cabinet.Mr Bush received a red carpet welcome at Tel Aviv airport, where he was greeted by the entire Israeli cabinet.
He said he saw a "new opportunity for peace here in the holy land" as he began his first visit as president.He said he saw a "new opportunity for peace here in the holy land" as he began his first visit as president.
Ahead of his arrival Palestinian and Israeli leaders agreed to begin tackling core issues dividing them. But within hours of his arrival, the Palestinians reported that Israeli forces had killed three people in Gaza.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed at a US summit last year to try to achieve a two-state solution by the end of 2008. Another four were reported wounded.
'Unshakeable bond' The Palestinians accuse Israel of stepping up such raids ahead of Mr Bush's visit.
Mr Bush was met by Mr Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres. At the arrival ceremony Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert spoke of the "unshakeable" bond between Israel and the United States, and of his deep personal friendship with Mr Bush.
President Shimon Peres meanwhile called on Mr Bush to "stop the madness" of Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, and warned Iran not to "underestimate our resolve for self-defence".
We are expecting that President Bush will get Israel to freeze settlement activity Nabil Abu Rudeina,Abbas spokesman Massive disruption for visitLasting legacy?We are expecting that President Bush will get Israel to freeze settlement activity Nabil Abu Rudeina,Abbas spokesman Massive disruption for visitLasting legacy?
Mr Olmert spoke of the "unshakeable" bond between Israel and the United States, and of his deep personal friendship with Mr Bush. He said he hoped finally to repay some of the hospitality he had been shown by Mr Bush.
Meanwhile, Mr Peres called on Mr Bush to "stop the madness" of Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, and warned Iran not to "underestimate our resolve for self-defence".
For his part, Mr Bush said Israel and the US had "built two great democracies under difficult circumstances".For his part, Mr Bush said Israel and the US had "built two great democracies under difficult circumstances".
He said the alliance between the US and Israel "helps guarantee Israel's security as a Jewish state".He said the alliance between the US and Israel "helps guarantee Israel's security as a Jewish state".
But his visit was not welcomed by Hamas, the militant group cut off by Israel and the West after winning Palestinian elections. His visit was not welcomed by Hamas, the militant group cut off by Israel and the West after winning Palestinian elections and which now runs Gaza.
"Bush has come to the region only to give political, moral and material support to the Israeli occupation and also to widen the internal Palestinian rift," Sami Abu-Zhuri, a senior Hamas official, told the BBC. "Bush is not welcome because he is one of the most prominent reasons for the suffering of the Palestinian people," Sami Abu-Zhuri, a senior Hamas official, told the BBC.
"Bush is not welcome because he is one of the most prominent reasons for the suffering of the Palestinian people." Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed at a US summit last year to try to achieve a two-state solution by the end of 2008.
Two-state vision
Speaking in Washington ahead of the trip, Mr Bush said there would be three main themes to his visit.
He said Palestinians need to have a clearly defined vision of a state that can exist alongside Israel, and both Palestinians and Israelis need to fulfil their obligations to bring about this vision.
Israeli and Palestinian views on US leader's visitIn picturesIsraeli and Palestinian views on US leader's visitIn pictures
He also repeated that the US was committed to security in the region. But correspondents say many Israelis and Palestinians are sceptical about the chances for progress. And in a meeting on Tuesday, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said it had been agreed that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, also known as Abu Ala, would "start intensive meetings to immediately discuss all core issues of a final status agreement."
After holding talks with Mr Olmert and Mr Peres in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Mr Bush will go to the West Bank to meet Mr Abbas. These include
This three-day leg of Mr Bush's tour will be followed by visits to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
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  • Israeli settlements
  • militant rocket fire into Israeli territory
  • the fate of Palestinians made refugees since Israel's creation in 1948
  • the sovereignty of Jerusalem itself
Thorny issues After his talks with the Israelis Mr Bush goes to the West Bank on Thursday to see the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
In a meeting on Tuesday, Mr Abbas and Mr Olmert authorised their negotiators to begin discussing "final-status" issues of the borders of a future Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem. He then goes on to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said it had been agreed that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, also known as Abu Ala, would "start intensive meetings to immediately discuss all core issues of a final status agreement."
But the BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says the rows over Israeli settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem and of militant rocket fire into Israeli territory have not gone away.
The Palestinians have also accused Israel of stepping up raids in the occupied territories ahead of Mr Bush's visit.
A further issue is the removal of unauthorised Israeli outposts in the West Bank.
Beyond that even tougher questions remain - the Palestinians made refugees since Israel's creation in 1948 and the sovereignty of Jerusalem.