Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler and Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian policeman today, hours after five Palestinians died in two separate bomb blasts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The violence underscored how far the two sides are from stepping back from their confrontation, despite recent discussion of an Egyptian-Jordanian peace proposal.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres said they had anunderstanding on forging a ceasefire, but no solid agreement.
"To have an agreement, you have to sit with a piece of paper and write it down, in small print. This did not yet happen but as a general concept, we reached an understanding", Mr Peres said after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York.
ButPalestinian negotiators have denied reaching any such ceasefireunderstanding with Mr Peres or other Israeli officials.
Today rescue workers pulled the body of a 31-year-old Israeli setterfrom a bullet-riddled car near the Jewish settlement of Ofra in theWest Bank.The militant Hamas group said its military wing, the Izzel-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was behind the shooting.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian policemanand wounded a woman in the Brazil refugee camp in the border town ofRafah.
Last night, an explosion in the West Bank city of Ramallah flatteneda two-storey building almost opposite Palestinian President Mr YasserArafat's headquarters, killing two children and a member of MrArafat's Fatah group.
MrPeres is scheduled to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of StateColin Powell in Washington tomorrow and see President George W. Bushat the White House on Thursday.