Washington: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to meet US President George Bush at the White House on Thursday to discuss efforts to hold up a fragile US-backed peace effort.

Abbas, who has been weakened politically since Hamas took control of Gaza last year, is expected to call for a renewed effort by the US to put pressure on Israel for concessions.

Bush meanwhile, who has 10 months left in office, has faced increased scepticism over whether he can really broker a peace deal between the two sides.

Negotiations between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have yielded little progress since a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis last year where they pledged to try to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008.