A seven-year-old Israeli girl has been killed and two other people, including another child, were wounded in a shooting attack near the West Bank.
The attack, which came as Palestinian militant groups were discussing a temporary halt in attacks on Israelis, occurred on a road close to the town of Kfar Saba.
Police said they assumed the shooting came from the West Bank and they had sealed off the area and launched a search for the attackers.
Following the attack, it emerged that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had failed to persuade militants to call a truce with Israel, in another blow to a peace plan US Secretary of State Colin Powell will try to save during a Middle East visit.
Mr Mohammed al-Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad official, told reporters outside Mr Abbas's Gaza office: "We have re-emphasised that resistance is a legitimate right of our people."
Agencies