Israeli field commanders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip held talks with their Palestinian counterparts today in an effort to calm violence, the Israeli Defence Ministry said.
The meetings appeared to be a first step by Israel towards beginning a withdrawal from West Bank and Gaza territory it reoccupied recently in the wake of mounting Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
The Palestinians have made a ceasefire sought by US envoy Mr Anthony Zinni during his current truce mission conditional on a full Israeli pullout from all Palestinian-run areas.
"Meetings between field level commanders were held this evening in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) in order to begin a process of cooling things down," the Defence Ministry said. There was no immediate Palestinian comment.
Both sides confirmed this morning that trilateral talks signalled yesterday would not go ahead.
Israel signalled an apparent early breakthrough in Mr Zinni's mission by announcing yesterday that Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, would take part in trilateral truce talks today.
But Palestinians swiftly denied they would attend any talks before a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Palestinian-ruled areas occupied in recent days during operations Israel has said are necessary out to flush out militants.
The Palestinian denial prompted an Israeli "clarification" less than an hour later, with Mr Sharon's office saying "no decision has been made regarding the holding of a meeting."
The false alarm highlighted the heightened sense of expectation surrounding Mr Zinni's mission, just two days after his arrival in the region.
The former US Marine Corps general met Mr Sharon at his ranch in southern Israel yesterday, as well as Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He did not comment publicly on the meetings, although described talks with both sides on Friday as "positive."
Gun battles in the West Bank city of Hebron and near the Netzarim Jewish settlement in central Gaza last night underscored the difficulties facing Mr Zinni after a week of some of the fiercest Arab-Israeli fighting in decades.
His two previous missions to implement a US-brokered cease-fire and an internationally backed truce-to-talks plan were derailed by violence.
There was relative calm in the West Bank yesterday, although tensions remained high as about 40,000 mourners marched through the al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza for the funeral of a Palestinian mother and four children killed on Friday.