The Palestinian leadership
met in Ramallah today to discuss a peace plan presented last night by Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.
Palestinian interior minister Mr Abdel Razaq al-Yahya met Mr Ben Eliezer last night to hear his "Gaza First" plan, whereby Israeli forces would slowly withdraw from areas re-occupied during the 22-month-old intifada, if the Palestinians crack down on militant groups.
"The plan was studied, but no decision was taken," one Palestinian official said, stressing that the proposal "must be discussed as thoroughly as possible and there is a need for more meetings with the Israelis."
But information minister Mr Yasser Abed Rabbo rejected the idea of Israeli withdrawals being limited to particular areas, calling instead for a comprehensive pullback.
"It's not logical and not possible that a withdrawal take place in one location while in another the killing and destruction is still going on," he said.
Meanwhile, the radical Islamic group Hamas dismissed Mr Ben Eliezer's proposals.
"The Palestinians reject this plan. Our mission is to resist the occupation, and such a sedative plan aims to calm criticism by the international community and gain time," said a Gaza Hamas leader, Ismail Abu Shanab.
An Islamic Jihad leader, Khaled al-Batsh, also charged the plan was an attempt to sow seeds of civil war among the Palestinians.
Earlier today, Israeli helicopter gunships killed two Palestinians, including one whom Israel says is wanted for a suicide bombing last month.
The two men are understood to have been returning to a West Bank cave where they had been hiding from Israeli forces.
Israel had been hunting for one of the militants, Ali Adjuri, for weeks. It believes he masterminded a suicide bombing in a foreign workers district of Tel Aviv on July 17th that killed five people, including a Romanian and two Chinese workers.
Both are believed to belong to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, Palestinian sources said.