The visit this week to the Middle East by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, will offer the first opportunity to assess the Obama administration's policy in the region. It comes at an unpropitious time, with sensibilities in the region still raw after Israel's three-week invasion of Gaza, which resulted in such terrible loss of life. Mrs Clinton's first task, at a donors' conference in Sharm el Sheikh yesterday, was to offer a $900 million (£642 million) aid package to Gaza and the West Bank. This, she said, was just one step up the ladder to a comprehensive peace deal based on a two-state solution, a subject about which she will have more to say when she visits Jerusalem and the West Bank over the next two days.

Mrs Clinton sought to draw a line beneath the half-hearted approach of the Bush government, insisting that the new administration will "vigorously pursue"
a lasting agreement because "we cannot afford more setbacks and delays". Such a statement of intent is important, for without unstinting American commitment there will be no peace. With a hard-line government under Benjamin Netanyahu already hinting at an expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, and the feud between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority as intense as ever, the challenge facing Washington is immense. It is the new administration's attitude to Hamas that will provide the clearest indicator of any fresh thinking. Mrs Clinton has already reiterated the long-standing US position that Hamas must renounce terrorism and recognise Israel. Some believe the only route to achieving this is through Hamas's friend Syria. If the secretary of state is able to engage constructively with Damascus – which has made warmish noises towards President Obama – then that really would mark an important change of approach.