Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts [Gallery] [Videos]

    JERUSALEM, July 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold a second round of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday evening after calling off a scheduled trip to Beirut to hammer out a cease-fire deal with Israel, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

    Rice said she was saddened by the killing of at least 51 civilians in an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday morning, but she refrained from calling for an immediate truce.

    "I think it is time to get to a ceasefire ... We actually have to try and put one in place," Rice said.

    However, Rice reiterated that a ceasefire could not mean a return to the position before the war, which was triggered by Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a raid out of south Lebanon on July 12.

    Meanwhile, Israel's popular Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Sunday that Rice will return to Washington on Monday to focus on drawing up a UN Security Council resolution that will bring about a "sustainable" ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

    Rice arrived in Israel on Saturday, starting her second tour to the region in less than a week to broker an early end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Enditem