March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed sympathy today for Israel’s need to respond to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, while urging Israeli officials to help the Palestinians better govern themselves.

Israel should help its “responsible” Palestinian partners “strengthen their capacity to govern the Palestinian people and move toward a viable state,” Clinton told reporters in Egypt today after a money-raising conference for war-battered Gaza.

Clinton said she is “troubled” by the continued rocket attacks from the coastal enclave, which is ruled by the Hamas rivals of the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank. Hamas, an Islamic political movement and militia, is a terrorist organization, according to the U.S. and Israel.

The division among the Palestinians is one of the problems standing in the way of a peace effort that Clinton’s trip is meant to push forward. She travels next to Israel.

Clinton sought to assure the conference that President Barack Obama will pursue a peace deal between Israel and its Arab neighbors with “vigor and intensity.” Citing the appointment of a special envoy for Middle East peace, George Mitchell, Clinton also pledged $900 million in aid for the Palestinians to underpin the government of Mahmoud Abbas.

‘Many Fronts’

“The United States is committed to a comprehensive peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and we will pursue it on many fronts,” Clinton told the conference earlier today in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The gathering of 75 countries and international organizations pledged more than $4.2 billion in aid for Gaza, parts of which were devastated by Israel’s 22-day air, land and sea assault aimed at ending the rocket fire.

Most major donors agreed the funding shouldn’t go to Hamas, which opposes talks with Israel and ousted Abbas’s Palestinian Authority from Gaza in 2007.

Abbas told the delegates, “We appreciate your presence and help, but we also insist that we must urgently proceed towards a settlement that will solve the conflict with Israel.”

The U.S. pledge includes $300 million for humanitarian aid to Gaza, with the rest going to Abbas’s government or projects it sets as priorities. Among other donors, the European Union promised $552 million and Saudi Arabia said it would provide $1 billion.

Clinton praised Abbas today for being willing to move toward a negotiated settlement, and she commended Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for increasing the credibility of his administration with financial controls.

The funds represent “both a short- and long-term approach,” Clinton said. “It is not enough just to respond to the immediate needs of the Palestinian people. Our response to today’s crisis in Gaza cannot be separated from our broader efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace.”

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum chided the conference for trying to shun his organization, which swept 2006 parliamentary elections in both the West Bank and Gaza.

“Bypassing the legitimate Palestinian authority in Gaza is like walking to the wrong address, and demonstrates a desire to hinder the reconstruction,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 2, 2009 14:07 EST