WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush holds a final meeting on Friday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas before leaving office after militants from the rival Hamas movement renounced a truce with Israel.

The meeting at midday (2.15am Singapore time) follows talks between Abbas and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice late on Thursday and comes with Mr Bush set to end his term in office next month without having secured a Middle East peace deal.

Mr Abbas, leader of the more moderate Fatah movement, had called for a continuation of the six-month ceasefire between Israel and the radical Islamists of Hamas in and around the Gaza Strip.

However Mr Abbas, whose authority is limited to the occupied West Bank, found his calls were ignored by Hamas which ousted his forces and seized control of the coastal enclave of Gaza in June 2007.

The end of the Egyptian-mediated truce raises fears of a new flare-up of violence and the Palestinian leader indicated he plans to discuss the situation during his meeting with Mr Bush.

'The president is working to obtain the end of the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza,' Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP. 'The president also calls on Israel to immediately end its military escalation.'

Israel had hoped for an extension of the six-month truce that went into effect on June 19.

The armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, announced early on Friday however that the ceasefire 'is over and there won't be a renewal because the Zionist enemy has not respected its conditions'.

In a statement on its website, Hamas added Israel bore responsibility for the consequences.

Mr Abbas's Washington visit comes as Israelis and Palestinians have failed to achieve their stated goal of reaching agreement by the end of this year.

Peace negotiations were relaunched in November 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland after a seven-year hiatus, but both sides have failed to make a breakthrough on the core issues.

The negotiations have been bogged down by continued Jewish settlement activity, widespread military roadblocks, inter-Palestinian discord and violence in and around Gaza.

Egypt's foreign ministry concurred with Palestinian sentiment Friday by pinning blame on Israel for the situation in Gaza.

Under international law, the ministry said in a statement, 'as the occupying power, Israel must ensure the basic needs of the inhabitants of the territory it occupies are met, such as electricity, water, fuel, food and medicine'.

Three rocket attacks were fired early on Friday by Palestinian militants from Gaza into southern Israel following Hamas' announcement. Violence has escalated for the past several weeks in the run-up to the end of the ceasefire.

Militants fired nine rockets on Thursday toward southern Israel that caused no damage or victims after Israeli forces carried out five air strikes and killed one Palestinian on Wednesday.

Israel responded to violence that erupted in early November by tightening sanctions and closing its crossing points with Gaza, halting deliveries of humanitarian aid and other basic supplies.

After Mr Bush, the first US president endorsing a Palestinian state, set Middle East peace as a priority for his second term, Mr Abbas was to seek reassurances that the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama will pursue the peace process.

'The Obama administration must absolutely make the Israeli-Palestinian issue one of its priorities and we will ask the current administration to make recommendations in this sense,' Abu Rudeina said.

Mr Abbas also hopes to gather fresh support for the peace process ahead of an Israeli election scheduled to take place on February 10 that could see the return of hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes establishing a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian leader will head to Moscow on Saturday, where he is set to meet President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time.

Russia, which plans to host an international conference on the peace process for 2009, is a member of the Middle East diplomatic quartet, which also includes the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council adopted a US-Russian draft resolution calling on both parties 'to fulfill their obligations ... and refrain from any steps that could undermine confidence or prejudice the outcome of negotiations.' -- AFP