RAMALLAH: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that there could still be a Mideast peace agreement before the end of President George W. Bush’s term in office.

“God willing and with the good will of the parties and the tireless work of the parties, we have a good chance of succeeding,” Rice said at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Rice was wrapping up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in hopes of furthering the announced goal of brokering a peace deal by year’s end, saying she had “very good” discussions. But she offered few specific signs of progress.

“They are dealing with all issues before them. No issue is off the table,” Rice added, calling the negotiations the “most intensive” since the last round of talks broke down in 2001.

Rice is on her seventh trip to the region since talks were relaunched last November. While Israel and the Palestinians say all key issues have been under discussion, there has been no word on agreements or breakthroughs.

Both sides had hoped to reach a final peace deal before Bush leaves office in January, but have acknowledged that target is unlikely to be met.

The talks have been complicated by the impending departure of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has said he will step down to battle multiple corruption investigations, and the Hamas group’s control of the Gaza Strip.

Rice repeated the US position that Israel should stop constructions in settlements on disputed territory, saying it “is not conducive to creating an environment for negotiations.”

Abbas said the settlements “are undoubtedly a main obstacle in the road of the peace process.” “We reject all the settlement activities in principle because they contradict with the agreements and the road map plan and the objectives of the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November,” Abbas said. “We have discussed the importance of reaching complete and comprehensive solutions, not partial solutions,” Abbas added.

The Palestinians have complained about continued Israeli construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Under the “road map,” the international peace plan that serves as the basis of the peace talks, Israel promised to halt all settlement construction. But it has continued to build thousands of homes in areas it hopes to retain under a final peace deal.

The Israeli watchdog Peace Now released a report yesterday saying that while talking peace with the Palestinians, Israel’s government has dramatically ratcheted up its construction in the West Bank. Some 2,600 new homes for Israelis are currently under construction in the West Bank — an increase of 80 percent over last year, Peace Now said.

In East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, the number of new government bids for construction has increased from 46 in 2007 to 1,761 so far this year, the report said.

— With input from agencies