VIDEO: Mideast Envoy To Return To Region

Clinton said Mitchell would return to the region before the end of the month, but she did not specify where he would go.

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will return to the region this month as the United States works to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

"This is the first of what will be an ongoing high level of engagement by Senator Mitchell on behalf of myself and the president," Clinton said at a news briefing with Mitchell, who returned on Monday from talks with Israelis and Palestinians in a bid to shore up a ceasefire in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Clinton said Mitchell would return to the region before the end of the month, but she did not specify where he would go.

Clinton said the United States was looking to work with "all of the parties" in the region to help make progress towards a negotiated agreement that would end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

But she repeated a demand by the United States and its allies that Hamas must meet certain conditions.

"They (Hamas) must renounce violence, they must recognize Israel, they must agree to abide by prior agreements," said Clinton.

"We are not able to look into the future to see whether there will be changes on the part of Hamas that (would) meet our conditions but, you know, certainly that would be a clear path for them to follow," Clinton added.

She said the United States wanted to help create an independent and viable Palestinian state in both the West Bank, ruled by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Mitchell, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland, said the situation was "obviously complex and difficult," but he was convinced that with patient diplomacy the United States could help achieve a long-term peace.

"There are no easy or risk-free courses of action," he told reporters. "I plan to establish a regular and sustained presence in the region."

Watch the VIDEO: Mideast envoy returns