Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian cabinet minister Nabil Shaath met on Wednesday for the highest level meeting between the two sides in at least two months, a day after Israel raided Palestinian towns injuring more than 60.
Peres called for a speedy accord with the Palestinians on security, saying it was "urgent" to reach agreement, said AFP.
There is an "urgent immediate need for a security arrangement," Peres said after talks with Shaath and chief negotiator Saeb Erakat in Athens.
The talks between the three, held on the sidelines of a forum on the Middle East, was the first meeting at that level between an Israeli cabinet member and a Palestinian since the new government of Ariel Sharon took office.
Erakat, for his part, said that the talks had been "very frank" and that Israel would "have to abide with the agreements signed," AFP quoted him as saying.
Solana, said Haaretz newspaper, described his talks with the two sides as "useful" and said he had urged them to find ways to break the cycle of violence that has gripped the region.
"I have repeated my appeal to both sides to condemn violence from whatever quarter, exercise maximum restraint and to renew their security cooperation on a systematic and regular basis," he said.
But Israel's Meretz leader, Yossi Sarid, said Israelis could expect a "horrible little war" before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon makes good on promises to bring peace.
Commenting on the Peres-Shaath meeting, Sarid said that "before Sharon brings us peace as promised there will be a horrible little war here, even if Shimon Peres is in the government."
ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN SECURITY OFFICIALS TO MEET WITHIN TWO DAYS
Top Israeli and Palestinian security officials are expected to meet within two days, said The Jerusalem Post newspaper, adding that the meeting was brokered by US Secretary of State Colin Powell during telephone conversations with both Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Powell's talks came shortly after Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip for the second time in less than a week.
On Tuesday, Israeli helicopter gunships and tanks pounded towns in the northern and southern Gaza Strip following a mortar bomb attack against the Jewish settlement of Atsoma that critically wounded a baby boy and injured his mother.
At least 60 Palestinians were wounded in the attacks, aimed largely at positions of the presidential guards unit, Force 17.
Sharon said Israel had no choice but to act to protect its citizens, charging that Arafat was not doing enough to prevent anti-Israeli attacks during the spiral of escalation that has gripped the region for more than six months.
"The Palestinian Authority is not working to prevent attacks and is leaving Israel with no choice but to act tenaciously and vigorously to frustrate terrorist attacks and protect Israeli citizens' security," Sharon said in a statement, cited by AFP.
PALESTINIAN DELEGATION TO VISIT WASHINGTON
In the meantime, Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said that a high-level Palestinian delegation may visit Washington in the coming days for talks with officials in the US administration, according to AFP.
"It is also possible that we could witness some Palestinian-Israeli meetings with American participation," he said.
Abed Rabbo launched a stinging attack on the United States on Monday, calling on Washington to resume its role as the leading mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to abandon its policy of "unconditional support" for Sharon.
ISRAEL STEPS UP ATTACKS
Haaretz said that Israeli shelled Palestinian positions north of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, using mortars for the first time.
The army said the target of the shelling was a position of the Palestinian presidential guards unit, Force 17.
"The position was used hours earlier to fire mortar shells at the settlement, a focus of Palestinian fire since the start of the Intifada," the army said in a statement.
AFP said that Palestinians fired four mortar shells early Wednesday at the settlement, but no one was hurt.
In the West Bank, exchanges of fire were reported overnight between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen near the village of Beitunia near Ramallah.
The Israeli army said the shots came from a position of Force 17, AFP said.
Sharon, who was elected in February on a pledge to restore security, has gone on the offensive in recent days following a sharp escalation of violence including a series of bombing attacks in Israel.
In another development, a bomb exploded late Tuesday in the Israeli town of Hod Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, said reports.
Eight people were "slightly injured" in the bomb attack described by Israeli police as a "terror bombing," said Haaretz.
The police said the explosive device was similar to those recently used by Palestinians in bomb attacks and an investigation has been opened.
The army also said a bomb exploded on the road between Netzarim and the Karni border crossing with Israel, but reported no casualties, added the paper."
The army opened fire towards suspicious figures in the area suspected to have planted the device," a spokeswoman said.
Ezzeddin al-Qassam, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas group, claimed responsibility for the bomb, which it said saying it had "completely destroyed (an Israeli) military patrol."
In a statement cited by AFP, the group did not mention whether there had been any injuries, saying however that its activists who planted the bomb had returned to their base safely.
Palestinian witnesses said an exchange of fire followed the explosion and that the Israeli army then razed the home of a Palestinian man in al-Mighraqa next to the settlement.
In Hebron, a group of Jewish settlers, including members of the outlawed Kach movement, claimed on Wednesday responsibility for a drive-by shooting that injured two Palestinians overnight, reported Israel Radio, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
One Palestinian sustained moderate wounds, while the second sustained light injuries, said the paper.
The group said in a statement that the shooting that the shooting was the "first in a series of revenge attacks against the Palestinians," according to the radio.
Police, said Haaretz, cast some doubt on the claim, saying they were investigating several possible leads in the attack.
Initial reports said that the culprits were armed Palestinians who mistook their compatriots for Israeli settlers - Albawaba.com
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