(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-11 15:15

On his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since taking office in 2001, his peace efforts are being combined with a spiritual journey for the devout Christian who once called Jesus his "favourite philosopher."

He was to fly north from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, from whose shores Jesus delivered much of his most famous teaching and where he is said to have healed the sick.

Bush was to follow in Jesus's footsteps and visit the ruins of Capernaum, the seaside village where Christ lived and taught after moving from nearby Nazareth, his home for the first 30 years of his life.

Capernaum is close to where Jesus is said to have miraculously fed 5,000 people with loaves and fishes.

Bush was travel on to the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus is said to have given his famous Sermon on the Mount in which he summarised the law of God.

The verse "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" has been invoked by past leaders attempting to resolve the decades-old Middle East conflict.

Bush was also due to visit in Jerusalem the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum which commemorates the more than six million Jews who were exterminated by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The president will return to the region at least once more before his term ends in January 2009, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Thursday.

He faces a difficult task to win over the hearts and minds of Palestinians, who are deeply sceptical about his ability to be an even-handed peace broker as Israel's closest ally.

Since peace talks resumed at a US-hosted conference in November, about 100 people, mostly Palestinian gunmen, have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip aimed at halting militant rocket fire.

But Israel on Thursday announced a temporary lifting of sanctions on fuel supplies into Gaza that were imposed on the impoverished Hamas-run territory also in November.

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