WASHINGTON — Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton today called for a "smart power" strategy in the Middle East that goes beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to address other pressing issues like Iran's nuclear program.

While offering no specific new peace proposal, Clinton spoke confidently of President-elect Barack Obama's intentions to renew American leadership in the world and to strengthen U.S. diplomacy.

"As intractable as the Middle East's problems may seem and many presidents, including my husband, have spent years trying to help work out a resolution, we cannot give up on peace," she told her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The President-elect and I understand and are deeply sympathetic to Israel's desire to defend itself under the current conditions, and to be free of shelling by Hamas rockets."

"However, we have also been reminded of the tragic humanitarian costs of conflict in the Middle East, and pained by the suffering of Palestinian and Israeli civilians," she said. "This must only increase our determination to seek a just and lasting peace agreement that brings real security to Israel; normal and positive relations with its neighbors; and independence, economic progress, and security to the Palestinians in their own state."

She said the new administration would pursue a broader approach to the problem of Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.