Washington ? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using her second overseas trip to assess Mideast peace prospects, reconnect with European allies and remind her Russian counterpart that U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow have their limits.

She kicks off the weeklong tour by attending an international conference in Egypt, where on Monday she will announce a U.S. pledge of up to $900 million in humanitarian aid for rebuilding of the war-shaken Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians are seeking $2.8 billion. The United States does not recognize the Hamas movement that rules Gaza and will not allow aid money to flow through Hamas. Because of disagreements between the two Palestinian factions, some major Arab pledges — $1 billion from Saudi Arabia, $250 million from Qatar and $100 million from Algeria — have not materialized, an Arab League official said Saturday.

The pledge conference reflects in part a U.S. effort to move quickly to influence events there, where the Islamic militants of Hamas are aligned with Iran and opposed to peace talks with Israel. Hamas is at odds with the other Palestinian faction, Fatah, which takes a more moderate approach to Israel.

Clinton also will visit Israel to show President Barack Obama’s commitment to finding a “two-state solution” that establishes a sovereign Palestinian state at peace with Israel.