United States President George W. Bush is trying to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza as a crowning achievement before leaving office January 20, the Associated Press has reported. A truce would diminish Bush's failure to reach an agreement with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to create a new Arab country within Israel's current borders.

"We are discussing with the Israelis and others what we can do to bolster the possibilities of getting to the durable cease-fire that we are all seeking," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters. "There are several elements to that and we are working with regional partners and also with the Israelis."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is en route to Washington to secure American guarantees and technical support aimed at stopping the arms smuggling from Egypt into Israel.

A similar agreement three years ago, after Israel expelled all Jews from the Gaza region and turned over their destroyed communities to the Palestinian Authority, left the border between Gaza and Egypt virtually unguarded despite Egyptian guarantees to protect Israel from the stockpiling of weapons by Hamas.

Giora Eiland, former head of the National Security Council, said Thursday that smuggling will continue despite technology and supervision at the border. He said the only way to hermetically close off the smuggling route is for Egypt to establish a security zone in which no one is allowed.

The ceasefire agreement that is evolving would leave Hamas in possession of at least several hundred rockets, several of which can reach major population centers in southern Israel.