Newly appointed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel in the Palestinian areas in early February to assess prospects for assisting Israel with its disengagement plan from Gaza and helping the Palestinian Authority reform. Her first trip abroad in her new post is slated to take place February 3-10 and include stops in Europe, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian areas. Rice will then travel March 1 to London to take part in a conference on Palestinian institution building.