WASHINGTON - US envoy George Mitchell, who is touring the Middle East, met Israeli intelligence officials on Thursday in Jerusalem, the State Department said.
Mitchell had "productive meetings" with Mossad director Meir Dagan, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin and Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
Mossad is the external intelligence agency and Shin Bet the internal one.
These meetings took place before Mitchell's visit to Ramallah during which he met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the spokesman said, adding that the US envoy was also due to meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.
Wood said that on Friday Mitchell will meet right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who opinion polls show is the favorite to win the Israeli elections next month.
Mitchell left Washington on Monday for a week-long tour of the region aimed at bolstering a ceasefire in Gaza, following a 22-day Israeli offensive against Gaza, and at reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The US envoy, a former Northern Ireland peacemaker, is also to make stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Europe.
Mitchell was appointed last week as the US special envoy to the Middle East by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, just two days after Obama was sworn in as president.
US to take 'active' role in seeking Mideast peace
Mitchell said on Friday the United States is committed to "actively and aggressively" seeking lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as its other Arab neighbours.
Speaking after touring a UN warehouse in occupied Jerusalem packed with aid destined for the Gaza Strip, US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy also called for a durable ceasefire in the ravaged Palestinian territory.
"The United States remains committed to actively and aggresively seeking a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as between Israel and its Arab neighbours," he said at the UN Relief and Works Agency
"The tragic violence in Gaza and in south Israel offers a sobering reminder of the very serious and difficult challenges and, unfortunately, the setbacks that will come.
"It is important to consolidate a sustainable and durable ceasefire while addressing immediately humanitarian needs," he said.
Mitchell, who delivered his statement in front of pallets of flour and cooking oil bound for the impoverished Palestinian enclave, announced that Obama "directed the use of another 20.3 million dollars to provide emergency food and medical assistance to the wounded and displaced in Gaza."
He said the funds were in addition to about 40 million dollars that the United States has provided to humanitarian programmes in Gaza since hostilities broke out in December.
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