US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived in Israel on Wednesday for a visit aimed to shore up the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli- Palestinian peace talks.

Mitchell is expected to meet separately with Israeli President Shimon Peres and members of the leadership troika, namely Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

He is also scheduled to hold talks with Israeli security officials and chairman of the Likud party Binyamin Netanyahu, a front-runner in the race for the next premiership in the February 10 general election.

The envoy will also go to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other officials, before he leaves for Amman on Friday to continue the first Mideast foray by the new US administration under President Barack Obama.

Hours before his arrival, Israeli troops and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip clashed in the worst flare-up since the two sides staged a fragile ceasefire in the Hamas-ruled enclave on January 18, following Israel's three-week onslaught that killed over 1,400 Palestinians.

Israeli warplanes raided southern Gaza early on Wednesday morning in response to a roadside bombing on Tuesday that killed an Israeli soldier, and a rocket that Gazan militants fired at southern Israel. A Palestinian farmer was also killed on Tuesday by an Israeli shelling after the roadside incident.

Israeli defense officials said that Barak canceled a planned trip to Washington to stay home and handle the crisis. Israel has vowed to respond harshly to any Palestinian violation of the Gaza truce.

"It is of critical importance that the ceasefire be extended and consolidated, and we support Egypt's continuing efforts in that regard," said Mitchell at a news conference after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo during the first leg of his trip.

Meanwhile, the United States is also committed to "vigorously pursuing lasting peace and stability in the region," he said, adding that the fact that Obama dispatched him to the region during the first week in the Oval Office "is clear and tangible evidence to this commitment."

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2009)