- Israeli and Palestinian officials have resumed high-level security talks under U.S. pressure to help salvage a peace plan jeopardised by a week of violence in which more than 50 people were killed.
The meeting, which coincides with a new U.S. diplomatic mission to prop up the peace initiative, was expected to focus on Israel's renewed offer to pull back from parts of the Gaza Strip in return for a Palestinian crackdown on militants.
Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan met senior Israeli military officials on Saturday night in the first such talks since U.S. President George W. Bush launched the Middle East "road map" at a summit last week, political sources said.