Obama on brief West Bank trip

Obama flew by helicopter over the barbed wire fences and walls of the Israeli separation barrier Thursday to the Muqataa presidential compound in Ramallah, where he was greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Some 150 Palestinian protesters gathered in the city to protest the US president's visit, shouting "Obama, you're not welcome here!" and "Obama, get out of Ramallah!", but they were prevented by police from reaching the compound.

Obama is holding talks with Abbas and then Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in his brief visit to the West Bank, set to last only five hours. The president has said the purpose of his trip is not to present a new peace plan, but rather to conduct a "listening" tour.

"Ultimately, this is a really hard problem," Obama said during a press conference Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It's been lingering for over six decades. And the parties involved have, you know, some profound interests that you can't spin, you can't smooth over. And it is a hard slog to work through all of these issues."

The Palestinians consider Israel's continued policy of Jewish settlement construction a major obstacle towards achieving peace, and say no deal can be reached while their state is cut off from Jerusalem and does not include any of the city. The Palestinian leadership have expressed disappointment that Obama appears to have dropped his insistence, made during his first term, that Israel halt settlement construction to improve negotiations.

Rocket attack

Hours before Obama traveled to Ramallah, militants fired two rockets into southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. One rocket hit a house in Sderot, causing minor damage, and another crashed into a field. No one was injured.

The rocket strike was only the second such attack since the end of an eight-day battle between Israel and Hamas militants in November that killed over 170 Palestinians and six Israelis. In February, militants fired a single rocket near the southern costal town of Ashkelon which they said at the time was in protest to the death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody.

There was no immediate comment from the White House concerning the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility.

After Obama arrived in Ramallah, Abbas condemned the rocket strike.

"We condemn violence against civilians, whatever its source, including the firing of rockets," political adviser Nimr Hammad quoted Abbas as saying.

Back to Israel

Earlier on Thursday Obama visited the Dead Sea Scrolls, documents more than 2,000 years old that include some of the earliest texts from the bible, in a move seen as an acknowledgement of the ancient roots of the Jewish state.

After returning from the West Bank, Obama will give a speech to a group of Israeli university students.

The president will then go to Jordan on Friday, where he will hold talks with King Abdullah II.

Newly-appointed Secretary of State John Kerry will also travel with Obama to Jordan but return to Israel on Saturday for further talks.

dr/jlw (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)