The State Department on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for Israel, telling Haaretz that the U.S. viewed its relations with Jerusalem as "special" and lasting.

When asked whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's declaration that "There will be no pigeion-holing, no exclusivity, we're reaching out to the entire world" could affect the U.S.' ties with Israel, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said: "U.S. has special relations with Israel, it will continue strong with no doubt."

Meanwhile, U.S. special Middle East envoy George Mitchell has embarked on his second trip to the region to further President Barack Obama's pledge to work for Arab-Israeli peace, the State Department said on Tuesday.

Mitchell was in London on Tuesday for talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and would also visit the Turkish capital Ankara, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank before returning to Washington on March 4.

Miliband, who was to travel to Cairo later on Tuesday, told parliament in London he had met Mitchell "to discuss prospects for renewed talks on the future of the Middle East."

State Department spokesman Wood said Mitchell would join U.S. Secretary Clinton in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on March 2 for a donors' conference to rebuild Gaza after Israel's invasion last
December.

U.S. officials said on Monday the United States would pledge over $900 million, but none of those funds would go to the Islamist group Hamas.

The U.S. recognizes the West Bank-based government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and has no formal contacts with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which runs a separate Palestinian administration in the Gaza Strip.

Money often is funneled into Gaza through international organizations such as the United Nations, or through Abbas' government, which deposits it directly into Gazans' bank accounts.

Asked about Gaza aid on Tuesday, Clinton declined to provide details.
"We have made no decisions and we are working across the government to determine what our approach will be," she said.

Wood estimated the aid package - a mix of new funding that still has to be agreed by Congress and already appropriated money - would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars but he too provided no exact figure.

Report: U.S. to open permament Jerusalem office for envoy

The U.S. is planning to open a permanent office in Jerusalem for Mitchell, the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday.

Mitchell has been tasked with advancing stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He is set to make his second visit to Israel in his current capacity in the last week of February.

Last week, Mitchell told the heads of several U.S. Jewish groups that while the issue of Israeli settlements comes up in every conversation with Arab leaders, "it is not the only issue."