Abbas and the US welcomed Olmert's address as "promising," but a number of rocket attacks from Gaza since the truce began on Sunday threatened to unravel the process.
One of Rice's priorities at today's meeting will be to press Abbas to cement the Gaza ceasefire, her spokesman Sean McCormack said.
He said Abbas had deployed some of his security forces in the northern Gaza Strip, but they had so far failed to stop all rocket attacks.
"We would hope that they would be effective in stopping any further rocket attacks or any terrorist attacks that might emanate from Gaza," he said.
The US has been pushing Israel to agree to the deployment to Gaza of a 1,500-man Jordanian-based Palestinian militia called the Badr Brigade, which is loyal to Abbas and which McCormack described as "competent and professional."
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